
Class ^X TMn 

Book. y5^2^_ 

GpightN" 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



POULTRY 
ARCHITECTURE 



A Practical Guide 

for Construction 

of Poultry Houses^ 

Coops and T'ards 




>, >'» ,', 



J » : »^ : > 



One Hundred Illustrations 



Compiled by , 

GEORGE B. FISKE 



New York 
ORANGE J U D D COMPANY 

iqo2 



^ j 



THTXrBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Cop«Ee Recwveo 

AUG. 19 1902 

CoPVT^tOHT ENTRY 

C'.AS3«CC.XXc Mo, 

COPY 8. 



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Cojivriylit UJQ2 
6v^u%c JucUl Company 



CONTENTS 



Introduction 

CHAPTER I 

LOCATION AND METHODS 

Foundations and walls — Ghuss in cold weather — Roosts, etc — 
Troughs — Fountains — Notes. 

CHAPTER H 

LOW-COST HOUSES 

Poultry house of G. R France — Convenient house — Cheap and 
labor-saving — A handy hennery — A house for layers — 
Cheap houses and shelters. 

CHAPTER HI 

BUILDINGS FOR COLONY SYSTEM 

House for mild climates — H. H. Stoddard's poultry house — 
Northern colony houses — Rhode Island colony houses. 

CHAPTER IV 

HOMES FOR FARM POULTRY 

Grundy's prize house — Farmers' poultry house — Removable 
houses — Wyckoff's houses — Portable coop — House for 
Pacific coast — House for south — House \vith cloth run — 
Good winter houses — Maine henhouse — Interior plans. 



IV CONTENTS 

CHAPTER V 

BANK AND SOD STRUCTURES 

A Kansas sod house — A Nebraska plan — House in a sand 
bank — Windproof structures — A house of logs — Bank wall 
houses. 

CHAPTER VI 

HIGH-GRADE PLANTS 

Well-made house in detail — A business poultry plant — A model 
house — Practical poultry home. 

CHAPTER VH 

ADDITIONS AND EXTRAS 

Using a second story — Adding a scratching pen — Shelter and 
lean-to — Protected coop — Run of sash and straw — Cheap 
runs. 

CHAPTER VHI 

FOR INCUBATORS AND BROODERS 

A brooder plant — Improved incubator house — A .brooder and 
growing house — Brooder boxes — Houses for separate 
brooders — Brooder attachments. 

CHAPTER IX 

SPECIAL PURPOSE BUILDINGS 

Cold Storage — Turkey houses — Improved duckhouses — Pigeon 
lofts — Combination house. 

CHAPTER X 

COOPS, YARDS AND FENCES 

Glass roof coops — Hotbed coops — Rat-proof — Cool runs — Ten- 
cent coops — Orchard chicken coop — Fattening pens — Sum- 
mer and fall shelter — Movable yards — Hen-tight fence. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FIG. 



I — Up and Down and Crosswise Boarding 

2 — Sections of Foundations and Wall 

3 — Sash with Double Glass . 

4 — Window for Cold Weather 

5_House for Mild Climates 

6 — House of Mr France 

7_Convenient House. End View and Front Ele 

8 — Cheap and Labor-Saving. Cross Section 

Q_Cheap and Labor- Saving. Ground Floor 

10 — Handy Hennery 

II — House for Layers . 

12— Ten-Dollar Henhouse 

13 — House and Shed . 

14 — Interior of House with Shed 

15 — A Small House 

16 — Colony House for Mild Climates 

17— H. H. Stoddard's Colony House 

18 — Northern Colony House 

19— Rhode Island Colony House . 

20 — Grundy's Poultry House and Yard 

21 — Farmers' Poultry House 

22 — House Easily Removed . 

23 — Interior and Details 

24 — End View of House and Details 

25 — Movable Coop 

26 — An Oregon Plan 

27 — House for Warm Climates 

28— House for One Hundred Fowls 

29 — House with Cloth Run . 

30— L- Shaped House with Shed . 

31 — Octagon House 

32— Good Winter House 



ation 



PAGE 
3 

4 

7 



10 
12 
13 
14 
14 
16 

19 
20 
21 
21 
22 
24 
26 
30 
32 
36 
33 
40 
41 
43 
45 
46 
48 
50 
51 
52 
53 
54 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



;^;^ — Good House with Interior Fixtures 

34 — Interior Contrivances 

35 — A Maine Henhouse 

36 — A Prairie Henhouse 

^y — Henhouse of Kansas Farmer 

38 — A Nebraska Sod House . 

39 — House in a Sand Bank . 

40 — Windproof Structure 

41 — A Log Chicken House 

42 — A Bank Wall House 

43 — Interior of Bank Wall House 

44 — Warm and Convenient Building 

45 — Weil-Made House. Front and Rear Elevations 

46 — Weil-Made House. End Elevation and Pen Run 

47 — Interior of Well-Made House 

48 — Section Through Pen 

49 — Plan Showing Roosts 

50 — Business Poultry House 

51 — Front Elevation of Model Hou 

52 — Ground Plan of Model House 

53 — Side View and Floor System . 

54 — Cross Section of Model House 

55 — Practical Poultry House 

56 — Runway to Second Story and Upper Roo 

57 — House with Scratching Shed . 

58 — Shelter and Lean-to 

59 — Protected Coop ... 

60 — Run of Sash and Straw . 

61 — Protected Scratching Sheds . 

62 — Plan of Duck or Brooder Buildings 

63 — Double Roof Incubator House 

64 — Banked Incubator Room 

65 — Incubator House and Tank 

66 — Double Brooder House . 

67 — Combination Brooder Building 

68 — Construction of Brooder Box . 

69 — Pipe Brooder House 

70 — Houses for Separate Brooder 

71 — Oregon Brooder House . 

72 — Houses for Winter Chicks 



55 
56 
57 
60 
61 
62 
63 
65 
66 

67 
67 
68 

71 
7^ 
73 
74 

75 
76 

79 
79 
79 
79 
81 
82 
83 
84 
85 
86 

87 
89 
90 

91 
92 

93 
94 
95 
96 

97 
98 
99 



LIST Oi' H.LLSTRxVTlONS 



VU 



FIG. 

'JZ — Plan for Cold Storage House for Poultry 
74 — Buildings for Turkeys . 
75 — Improved Duckhouse 
76 — Duckhouse and Shed 
']'j — Pigeon Loft and Interior 
78 — House for Poultry and Pigeons 
79 — Ground Plan for Combination House 
80 — Glass-Roofed Coops 
81 — Hotbed Run and Coops . 
82 — Rat- Proof Coops and Run 
83 — Box and Barrel Coops . 
84 — Coops from Barrels and Crates 
85 — A- Shaped Coops 
86 — A-Shaped Coop and Frame 
87 — Coop from a Shoe Box . 
88 — A Packing Box Coop 
89 — Brood Coop v/ith Run . 
90 — Light Box Coops . 
91 — Shelter and Portable Coop 
92 — Colony Shelter Coop 
93 — Orchard Coop 
94 — Fattening Boxes 
95 — Coops for Sitting Hens . 
96 — Shipping and Exhibition Coops 
97 — Yards for Three Flocks 
98 — Yards for Two or Four Flocks 
99 — ]\Iovable Poultry Yard . 
100 — Making a Fence Chicken Proof 



PAGE 
lOI 

104 
107 
107 
108 
109 
109 
no 
III 
112 

115 
116 
117 
117 
118 
119 
120 
120 
121 
122 
123 
124 
124 
125 
125 
126 
127 
128 



INTRODUCTION 



The aim of this book is to give designs of sufficient 
variety to suit conditions everywhere. Few requests 
come more often to the office of a pouhry editor than 
those asking designs and directions for some part 
of a poultry plant. The number and variety of such 
requirements is surprising. 

On the other hand, the very diversity of conditions 
which create the demand has also developed a supply. 
A multitude of houses and coops of differing styles 
have been designed by ingenious poultry keepers in 
accord with their experience and to meet local condi- 
tions. This little volume aims to bring together these 
two classes, the intending builders and those who have 
already built successfully. It is thought that the one 
hundred designs of such wide range of style, cost and 
adaptation will meet all requirements. 

Many of the designs originally appeared in Ameri- 
can Agriculturist weeklies in response to definite re- 
quests." The plans are carefully selected from a much 
larger number, and only those are given which are 
in successful use and wdiich are adapted to the needs 
of practical poultry keepers ; pretentious or overorna- 
mental and elaborate affairs having been excluded. 
Wherever thought necessary or desirable, complete 
specifications of cost and construction have been in- 
cluded, so that the structures may be put up by anyone 
wdio can handle saw and hammer. 



CHAPTER I 



LOCATION AND METHODS 



Poultry can be made to do well almost anywhere, 
just as cattle are made profitable on many farms not 
especially adapted for dairying. Management and 
system of housing should be varied to suit the location. 

Some good paying poultry farms are on stiff, 
heavy clay land, where water collects in pools after 
rain. Others just as profitable are on rather thin, light 
soil. Still, it is generally agreed that a good, free, well 
drained loam has certain advantages. The soil dries 
quickly after a rain, snow melts more quickly, it warms 
rapidly in the sun, every shower purifies it by carrying 
down a part of the impurities. On wet, heavy soil the 
fowls should have very wide range or the ground 
becomes muddy and unwholesome. Yet such land is a 
rich storehouse of plant food and affords the best of 
grass and insect diet even when drouth checks all fresh 
growth on other land. Heavy land is best suited to 
the colony or free range systems. Some of the largest 
and most profitable farms have been thus located and 
conducted, and the fowls maintained in perfect health 
and vigor. 

On rather poor land the fowls should also have 
wide range in order to find enough wild food. Good 
pasturage should be considered as important as for 
cattle. 

Rocky land is seldom made the location of large 
farms for poultry culture, since frequent cultivation 
and cropping is a part of most systems. Money saved 



2 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 

in buying- rough or sandy land is soon lost many times 
over in decrease of net returns. If one may choose, 
let him buy good, clear, well drained loam, with a 
gradual southern slope and a fore^.t protection at the 
north. But, as said before, most locations can be made 
satisfactory by suitable buildings and system of man- 

nent. 

The site of permanent buildings should be well 
drained naturally, but in a great majority of cases the 
conditions wdll be improved by at least heaping up with 
a horse scraper a little knoll of earth about the same in 
area as the house. Dryness is the great preventive of 
disease in poultry, and is even more important than 
warmth. A dry hen will stand a great deal of cold 
weather without much injury. 

Foundation and IValls — It pays to have a stone 
foundation reaching down to frost line, or from one to 
three feet below the surface and rising about one foot 
above the ground level. When covered with earth, a 
dry, dusty floor is ensured all winter, and rats are kept 
out even without a cement covering for the stone floor. 
Anything but a stone foundation is likely to take up 
more or less moisture, which will freeze and thaw, 
making the floor hard and cold, or muddy, neither state 
being suitable for scratching and for dust baths. Floors 
below ground are unsatisfactory in moist climates 
Dampness works in, spoils the scratching floor, stops 
laying and causes lameness, colds and bowel trouble. 
If the floor, however, has been raised by a rock filling, 
the outside of the building may be banked with earth to 
good advantage. 

Tight Foundations — When small buildings are 
erected upon the farm, there is a temptation, in the 
interest of economy, to omit the tight stone foundation 
and put the building on posts. This leaves the building- 
open beneath and permits the cold winds to reduce the 



LOCATION AND METHODS 3 

temperature. A plan is shown in the cut, Figure i, 
which obviates this. The wahs are boarded up and 
down, using- matched cedar boards, and aUowing these 
to extend to the ground, as shown. A httle soil is then 
banked up against the lower end, which is grassed over 
quickly, making a tight foundation that will last mam- 
years. If the framing is made to use crosswise board- 
ing, put on the latter as shown at right of Figure i, 
using a wide cedar board to extend from the sill down 
to the ground, and bank with a few inches of earth as 
before mentioned. The building can then be shingled 
or clapboarded. 








I 






\ 


^ ^ 







1^. 



FIG 



UP AND DOWN AND CROSSWISE BOARDING 



In placing a house, let it face the south or as nearly 
so as possible. It is cooler in summer and warmer in 
winter than one facing either east or west. The sun 
in summer during the hottest part of the day is nearly 
directly overhead and does not shine in so strongly in 
a south window. In winter, when low in the heavens, 
the south window catches more of the sun's rays. 

A Poultry House Floor of cement may well be pat- 
terned after the plan shown at left of Figure 2. The 
foundation is of loose stones to give drainage. The 
stones above are cemented. A layer of small stones 
beneath the cement serves as drainage. The sills of the 
house are bedded in cement to keep out vermin. This 
plan gives an exceedingly warm house, and the cement 
floor will keep out all rats and poultry enemies. A 



4 I'OULTRY ARCIilTECTL'RE 

cement floor is a cold affair in winter unless covered 
with plenty of dust and litter. 

A Very Warm Wall designed by G. C. Watson of 
the Pennsylvania experiment station is double on all 
sides and practically air tight, with a two-inch air space 
between the walls. A section plan is shown at right 
of Figure 2. A two by three scantling set edgewise 
forms the plate, and to this the boards of t)ie side walls 
are nailed. These boards may be of rough lumber if 
economy in building is desired. If so, the inner board- 
ing should be nailed on first and covered with tarred 
building paper on the side that will come within the 



-m, 




FIG 2 : SECTIONS OF FOUNDATIONS AND WALL 



hollow wall when the building is completed. This 
building paper is to be held in place with laths or strips 
of thin boards. If only small nails or tacks are used, 
the paper will tear around the nail heads when damp 
and will not stay in place. 

The cracks between the boards of the outside 
boarding may be covered with inexpensive battens if 
they are nailed at frequent intervals with small nails. 
Ordinary building lath will answer this purpose ad- 
mira1)ly, and will last many years, although they are 
not so durable as heavier and more expensive strips. 
The tarred paper on the inside boarding and the battens 
on the outside make two walls, each impervious to 



LOCATION AND METliUDS 5 

wind, with an air space between them. Common build- 
ing paper may be used or stout paper of any kind. 

It has been left for the West Virginia experiment 
station to determine just how much difference there 
would be in egg production between similar flocks kept 
in warm and cold houses. Two houses, built exactly- 
alike and situated side by side, were selected for the 
experiment, in each of which were placed twelve pul- 
lets. One house had previously been sheathed on the 
inside and covered with paper to make it perfectly 
tight. Both were boarded with matched siding and 
shingle roofs. 

The fowls were fed alike in each case. The morn- 
ing mash consisted of corn meal, ground middlings 
and ground oats, and at night whole grain was scat- 
tered in the litter. They also had fresh water, grit and 
bone and granulated bone. The experiment started', 
November 24 and continued for five months. The fol- 
lowing table shows the number of eggs laid during each 
period of thirty days : 

RESULTS FROM COLD AND WARM HOUSES 

12345 Total 
Warm house ... .87 130 138 120 154 629 
Cold house 39 106 103 124 114 486 

The experiment clearly indicates that it is impor- 
tant to build warm and substantial houses for winter 
egg production. 

In very cold climates special pains should be taken 
to make the roosting place warm. Combs are usually 
frozen during the night. Double walls battened with 
lath outside and lined with building paper make a 
warm roost room. With single-wall houses, double 
boarding on the north side is a protection. An outside 
shield of corn stalks or hav and litter is also effective. 



6 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 

Costly material is not needed for the poultry house. 
Often a discarded barn or other building can be bought 
cheap and the sound lumber used again. Others on 
farms can work up home grown timber. For city 
poulterers, large packing boxes bought at dry goods 
stores are a cheap source of lumber. Sometimes old 
street cars have been bought for a trifle and remodeled. 
Serviceable houses have been made from staves of old 
barrels as an outside covering. Old strips of carpet, 
oilcloth, wall paper or building paper may be utilized 
to some extent as inside protection. 

A coat of home-mixed paint improves the durabil- 
ity and appearance of a house enough to pay for ics cost. 
Whitewash is much better than nothing, and will add 
years to the life of second-hand lumber. 

Shingles properly applied to a roof of fairly steep 
pitch are the best and warmest roofing, but a strip of 
building paper should be laid beneath to keep out cur- 
rents of cold air which work in between the shingles. 
Tin or iron is sometimes cheaper than wood, and for 
temporary structures, felting paper with a coat of paint 
will last about two years. An advantage of sheet mate- 
rials for roofing is that a steep pitch is not needed to 
carry ofif the water, but such materials are cold in 
winter and hard to repair when damaged. 

Glass in Cold Weather — Amateur builders com- 
monly use too much glass, which makes a house un- 
naturally warm on sunny days, but extremely and 
dangerously cold by night and on stormy days. One 
window not over three feet square and about eighteen 
inches above the floor to each ten feet of house length 
is enough. Warmth is much increased by a shutter or 
curtain for night. Windows should be arranged to 
slide to on^ side or be easily taken out during hot 
weather. 



LOCATION AND METHODS 7 

Double windows are sometimes used, but these are 
expensive, somewhat of a bother to put on and hard to 
keep clean. 

The cut, Figure 3, shows a single sash, double 
glazed, which a poultryman has recently described. 
The sash is made so that the glass can be set on both 
sides of the wooden bars, leaving a half inch or more 
of space between. This gives a double window and 
the cost is said to be not more than twenty-five cents 
extra per sash for the glass and the labor of setting. 
Those who are providing windows for new or re- 




FIG 3 : SASH WITH DOUBLE GLASS 



modeled poultry houses will do well to experiment with 
this plan. The glazing must be tight and carefully done 
to keep out all dirt and dust from the inner surfaces 
of the glass. Figure 4 shows a window partly 
double, making a convenient arrangement for ventilat- 
ing without draft, and securing greater warmth at 
night and on cloudy days. 

Roosts, Nests, Troughs, Fountains, etc, will not be 
treated at length in this volume. Roosts should be all 



8 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 

on a level, should be about two inches thick, rounded 
on the upper side, not over two feet from the floor, and 
removable. 

Troughs and Drinking Places should be protected 
by slats. Nests should be numerous, secluded and 
easily removed. Beware of too complicated inside 
arrangements when large numbers of fowls are kept 
for profit. Successful large farms are nearly always 




FIG 4 : WINDOW FOR COLD WEATHER 

conducted on very simple plans, but with emphasis 
placed on the main needs of the fowls. 

Notes — Dryness and warmth are the two main 
essentials in most climates. 

Everything inside should l^e removable, also 
doors and windows. 

The house should be made tight enough t»o hold 
smoke when fumigated. 



LOCATION AND METHODS 9 

Cost ranges from twenty-five cents to five dollars 
per fowl. A reasonably good business house may be 
built at one dollar per head. 

When building an all-around house, provide for 
summer as well as for winter. 

Rather than extend beyond seventy-five feet, better 
start a new building. 

Study actual needs of fowls rather than comfort 
of the attendant. 



CHAPTER II 



LOW-COST HOUSES 



Buildings fairly comfortable and lasting can be 
erected at fifty cents to one dollar per fowl. Where 
old material is used, very little money need be paid out. 
The plans of the low-cost structures are so simple that 
almost anyone may do the work. Some of them can 
be made for about one dollar per running foot, includ- 
ing labor. The number of fowls accommodated by any 
house varies with the breed, the climate, the size of 




FIG 5 : HOUSE FOR MILD CLIMATES 



outside run, and the care given. Expert poultrymen 
can obtain good results from crowded pens. For aver- 
age conditions allow ten to twenty square feet of floor 
surface per fowl. 

In regions where the snow does not cover the 
ground too deeply, a cheap, low structure can be built 
after the plan shown in Figure 5, that will answer the 
purpose very well. Stakes are driven into the ground 



LOW-COST HOUSES II 

and rough boards nailed to these to a hight of three 
feet in front and two feet in the rear, leaving spaces 
for low, wide sash in front. A long and a short roof 
is put on, with roof doors in the front, short roof. 
These are made with overlapping edges to secure tight- 
ness against the wind and rain. The attendant stands 
outside and through these roof doors cares for the 
fowls, securing the eggs from nests that are within 
reach, putting in water and scattering grain in the 
litter. The whole structure is covered with tarred or 
resin-sized paper, the edges being securely tacked or 
battened with laths. The roof is covered in the 
same way. 

Select a dry location, and put in three inches of 
gravel upon the ground and keep a thick layer of chaff 
upon that, and the inmates will scratch away merrily 
for grain all winter long. Make the building any 
length desired and part off with boards — or with net- 
ting if only females are to be kept in the pens — before 
the roof is put on. Roosts can be put up just out of 
the fowls' way when on the floor. With care to make 
the roof tight, such a building, while it costs but little, 
will prove very satisfactory. 

This Lozv Cost Building, designed by G. R. France, 
Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, for about twenty-five 
hens, could also be built in duplicate with the main 
alley running the whole length of the connected build- 
ings and in front of the different sections, about 
twenty-five hens to be kept in each. (Figure 6.) 

It is intended to be built of rough hemlock, the 
price of which is based at ten dollars per thousand 
feet. It could be made of mill slabs doubled, with a 
space between, packed with straw and battened with 
slabs. The ground space is filled up with loose stone 
thrown in until on a level with the bottom of the sills, 
and then dirt is spread over the stone and tamped down 



12 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



hard. This filhng- is cheap and the stone allows the 
moisture to go through, and the dirt floor is always 
dry. However, if a board floor is wanted, add one 
hundred and sixty-eight feet of matched hemlock 
flooring at fifteen dollars 'per thousand feet. For a 
partition, in place of netting use straight poles from 
the forest, for cheapness. Mr France had the sash, and 
battened his roof with slabs, but still was very careful 
to make it warm, and it cost him only about four 
dollars for material. 

Below is an itemized list of lumljer and other sup- 
plies : Two hundred and sixty feet of ten-foot inch 






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W \ 






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'- « 



FIG 6: HOUSE OF MR FRANCE 



boards for siding (must not be cut to waste) ; two hun- 
dred and thirty-one feet of fourteen-foot boards for 
roof and nests ; one hundred feet battens three inches 
by ten feet ; two pieces two by six inches by fourteen 
feet, and two pieces two by six inches by twelve feet for 
sills ; eight pieces two by four inches by fourteen feet 
for plates and cross-beams ; four pieces one by six 
inches by twelve feet for window casing; two squares 
of felt roofing at one dollar and fifty cents per square, 
including nails for same ; one roll building paper, five 
hundred square feet, sixty cents ; netting six by sixteen 
feet, seventy cents ; ten pounds nails, thirty cents ; two 
pairs strap hinges, thirty cents ; four half sash, two dol- 



LOW-COST HOUSES 



13^ 



lars and fifty cents. Total cost of lumber and supplies, 
fourteen dollars and forty-five cents. Waste material 
can be used where there is some on hand. The labor 
would occupy a carpenter with one man to help about 
two days. 

Convenient House — Figure 7 shows the front ele- 
vation and end' view of a poultry house that has some 
good points. The arrangement of the roosts, / / 
(which are made movable to facilitate cleaning away 
the droppings), on a stand in the middle of the room, 
makes it convenient to get at them. The door in front 
of the nests, g, swings up so as to gather the eggs, the 




FIG 7: CONVENIENT HOUSE. END VIEW AND FRONT 
ELEVATION 



hens entering at the rear; h is the ventilator, which 
is opened and shut by a weight and cord ; this system 
of ventilation is* defective. As has been frequently ex- 
plained, the proper way to ventilate a poultry house 
is by means of a shaft running from within a few 
inches of the floor to several feet above the roof. Thus 
a draft is created that draws up the cold air and bad 
odors from near the ground, while the warm air at the 
top is thus brought down and the fowls are kept much 
warmer than would be the case if a hole in the roof 
let out all the warm air. The space underneath the 
nests, marked e, can be utilized for sitters or for 
storage. 



H 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



Cheap and Sairs Labor — The accompanying 
illustrations, Figures 8 and 9, show a very handy and 
convenient henhouse. It is located near the kitchen and 
is so cleanly that the women of the house can run in 
and out after eggs or for feeding purposes. It is built 




FIG 8: CHEAP AND LABOR-SAVING. CROSS SECTION 



of matched siding, running up and down, and the roof 
is of the same material, with tarred paper on the 
inside. All the inside fixtures are movable, and 
monthly during the warm weather everything is taken 











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WmmJtr- 

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f 




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f 




S4/tftr 







FIG 9: CHEAP AND LABOR-SAVING. GROUND FLOOR 



out and the whole inside, including the roof, is given 
a shower bath of lime water and carbolic acid, applied 
with a spray pump. The roost poles are covered with 



LOW-COST HOUSES I5 

cloth, which is occasionally saturated with kerosene. 
Near the right, as seen in the diagram, Figure 8, is the 
entrance door, and a is a bin four feet high and eighteen 
inches wide, running the whole length of the building, 
with a hinged lid, for storing droppings. Above this 
box is a shelf, b, for holding feed, shells, gravel, etc. 
At the left of the door is a tight platform, c, one foot 
beneath the roost poles, c, for catching the droppings. 
At fl? is a hinged door opening on a level with the plat- 
form, through which the droppings are shoveled once a 
week into bin a. The nest boxes, f, are one foot square 
and fifteen inches high, leaving an eight-inch passage 
for the hens to enter the nests ; a small crack is left 
at the top in the back, so that the light strikes the eight- 
inch alley, but not the boxes. Each nest is a separate 
box, and when a hen becomes broody the nest box is 
pulled forward close to the drop door, thus shutting up 
the alley and locking biddy on her nest. As the nests 
are all alike, it makes no difference which nest she 
chooses to brood in — it can be moved to the end and 
thus does not obstruct the passage. About two inches of 
moist sand are put into the bottom of each nest before 
the hen is set ; the straw nest is built thereon and the 
eggs are given her. The door, o-, is then shut down. 
Every morning the hatching hens are let out for fifteen 
minutes to eat, drink, wallow, etc, after which they 
will usually take their own nests ; if not, thev can be 
easily changed. The eggs can be gathered through 
the door, _i[. 

At /, under the nest boxes, is a long trough with 
partitions for soft feed, water, milk, etc, running the 
whole length of the building. The space between this 
trough and d in Figure 9 is slatted up with common 
lath, running from the front side of the nests to the 
back side of the trough, thus leaving the trough in the 
alley where the fowls cannot get into it— the lath being 



i6 



PO U LTR Y A RC H ITECT U RE 



far enough apart to allow the fowls easy access to the 
feed. The lath are nailed to narrow strips at top and 
bottom, to be movable. At / is a dust bath the whole 
length of the building in front of the windows, which 
face the south. 

In Figure 9, at s, is an oil stove which is used when 
the temperature gets too low. At m m are ventilators 
with slides to gauge them. The doors, h h, are for 
access to dust baths, etc, and n n are windows. Each 
of the two apartments will accommodate twenty-five 
fowls. 




FIG 10 



HANDY HENNERY 



A Handy Hennery — The chief objection to a two- 
story henhouse is the inconvenience of going upstairs, 
carrying up earth and cleaning out the upper story. 
Rut all the annoyances are obviated in the hennery 
shown, Figure 10, and twice the amount of space is 
secured which the same amount of roof usually covers. 
This was built at a cost of ten dollars for carpenter's 
work and twenty-eight dollars more for the total cost 
of sash, nails, lumber, etc. As the perspective shows, 
the bank wall and digging required some labor. The 
cut shows the south and w^est sides of the house. It is 



LOW-COST HOUSES I7 

fourteen by sixteen feet and is an unusually warm 
structure considering the fact that it is not lined. The 
estimate does not include some old lumber which made 
the roof boards. The roofing is not included. The 
south slope to the roof is shingled. This covers but 
one-third the area, and two bundles of shingles are 
sufficient. Board floors are used only in the second 
story. On the ground floor the earth is filled in to the 
top of the stone underpinning. It remains perfectly 
dry in the wettest weather and is much more satis- 
factory than board or cement could possibly be. The 
building has a window both above and below on the 
east side. 

The sills are four l)y six inches, two being fourteen 
feet and two sixteen feet long. The corner posts are 
four by four inches by twelve feet long, another stick 
four by four inches and ten feet long, four joists three 
by four inches and sixteen feet long, two more of the 
same only fourteen feet long, nine joists for the floor 
two by five inches and fourteen feet long, eight rafters 
two by four inches and twelve feet long, eight more 
of the same only seven feet long. This made in round 
numl)ers four hundred and fifty feet, and five hundred 
and fifty feet more of Georgia pine planed on one side 
and sixteen feet long was bought at a cost of sixteen 
dollars per thousand. Also two bundles of shingles 
at one dollar per bundle and ten sashes at forty cents 
each, second hand. The frame timber cost eighteen 
dollars per thousand feet. Twenty pounds of "eight- 
penny nails and ten pounds of tens were bought for 
seventy-five cents, five pounds of spikes twenty-five 
cents, the same weight of six-inch spikes twenty-five 
cents, seven pounds of wire nails thirty-five cents, four 
pairs of hinges thirty-two cents and two door handles 
for thirty-five cents. The front of the structure is made 
of pine which cost seventeen dollars per thousand. 



l8 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 

Only one nundred and seventy feet were used, costing 
three dollars. The pine was got at this low price, being 
a cheap lot, with here and there narrow seams of 
decayed wood. These places were soaked with hot lin- 
seed oil as soon as the house was completed, which 
will stop all further decay. A little putty will fill all 
the seams and paint will hide everything. No window 
frames were used, the sash being put just behind the 
siding and arranged to slide sidewise. 

The partitions run north and south upstairs and 
down. A three-foot hall extends along the north side 
of the exposed upper story, thus adding to its warmth. 
From this hall doors open into both apartments. The 
partitions running north and south are made of mov- 
able poultry hurdles that can be used out of doors in 
summer if desired. The hens like these deep rooms, 
they are so cool in summer, and afford dark retreats at 
the rear for skulking away to lay. Screens have been 
put up downstairs to increase the darkness at the back. 
The house is not an unsightly one, as many poultry 
houses are. It is to be painted light drab, with white 
about the doors and windows to represent frames. A 
quantity of pieces of boards from three to five feet long 
were left after cutting the sixteen-foot boards. These 
came in handy for flooring, screens, nest boxes, etc. 

A House for Layers — It is sometimes better to 
have a number of small houses suitable for laying 
rather than have roosting, feeding and laying accom- 
modations combined under one roof, as is so often the 
case. Hens soon learn where the comforts for laying 
are to be found and seek them, giving better attention 
to what duties they have to perform in this respect 
than they do under other surroundings. The illustra- 
tion, Figure ii, shows a cheaply constructed laying 
house, to be built any size the builder wishes to make it. 
It is made against the wall of another building with a 



LOW-COST HOUSES 



19 



southern aspect or shelter. This acts to advantage to 
the laying quarters, keeping it free from the severe 
cutting winds and snow of winter and damp rains of 
spring time. Nothing but nesting compartments are 
within the building and the hens know what is to be 
expected of them upon entering. The entrance for the 
hens is, as will be noticed, at the end of the building. 
In cold weather it shuts out the cold that leaving a 
larger opening would involve. At ni'^ht a board on the 




FIG II 



HOUSE FOR LAYERS 



inside should shut up the inclosure to keep the build- 



A Ten-Dollar Henhouse — This coop. Figure 12, 
costs ten dollars and is large enough for a dozen fowls. 
The coops are built seven by ten feet of boards costing 
six dollars per thousand. From ground to eaves 
the distance or the length of the l^oards is two and a 
half feet. The roof boards are five feet long and are 
covered- v/ilh tarred paper. The doorway in front on 



20 



I'O U LTR V A KC H ITECT L' RE 



the south side is twenty inches wide by five feet high. 
This kind of coop does first rate for summer and fairly 
well for winter use. 

The House and Shed shown in the illustration, 
Figure 13, can be made for sixteen to twenty dollars, 
and will answer for a fiock of thirty fowls of average 
size. If more fowls are kept, not over thirty should 
be housed together, but by uniting two or more of these 
small houses end to end, with continuous walls and 
roof, the accommodations can be increased to any ex- 
tent desired. The building is sixteen feet long and 
ten feet wide, and is similar to the houses used by 




FIG 12 



TEN-DOLLAR HENHOUSE 



Buffinton, Hunter, Shoemaker and other practical poul- 
trymen. Half the space is occupied by an open scratch- 
ing shed, which should have a curtain of oiled cotton 
cloth in front for stormy weather. Figure 14 shows 
the interior plan, which needs little explanation. A 
board to catch droppings is placed under the roosts, 
and the nest boxes are often kept under the dropping 
board, for seclusion and economy of space. By making' 
the building higher a passageway for the attendant 
can be partitioned off at the rear. This arrangement 
is convenient where these buildings are joined in a 
long series. 



LOW-COST HOUSES 



21 



A small henhouse furnishes no space for exercise, 
and a large room is too cold during winter nights. The 
best combination is a small, snug, one-windowed room 
for laying and roosting, having attached a large, cheap, 
light shed, the latter, according to location, open south 
or entirely closed, containing several windows. 




FIG 13: HOUSE AND SHED 








<4 




8^/0 






AiETTV 



FIG .14: INTERIOR OF HOUSE WITH SHED 



Scratching sheds with closed front should have a 
large, wide door which can be thrown open in mild 
weather, the hens being confined by an inner door of 
netting. When several of these houses are joined, they 
should be built roosting pens joining and scratching 
sheds joining alternately, thus reducing cost and mak- 
ing roosting oens warmer. The ^^ous^ recmires about 



22. 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



one thousand square feet of sheathing, besides the 
frame lumber, roofing sheet or shingles, etc. The floor 
of both parts should be covered with litter. Extra pro- 
tection for large combed breeds is afforded by boxing 
in the roosts. 

Economical Small House — The cut, Figure 15, 
shows the construction and advantages of this house. 
The space beneath has a dirt floor, and gives the hens 




FIG 15: A SMALL HOUSE 



out-of-door air in winter and a cool scratching place in 
summer. It can be cleaned out with an iron rake by re- 
moving the wire netting. Made of matched boirdir.g 
with building paper beneath, such houses are very in- 
expensive and will serve admirably for use with the col- 
ony plan of keeping fowls. A number of such houses 
can be scattered about the pastures, allowing large 
flocks to be kept. This house can be built of any size 



LOW -COST HOUSES 2^ 

desired, but eight by ten to eight by twelve feet wih be 
found a very handy size and will accommodate from 
twenty to thirty fowls. 

A Cornstalk Shelter can be made quickly and 
cheaply for the hens. The hens are very fond of a low, 
open shed facing the south, and one can be built of 
stalks that will last two or three years or longer. 
Drive a few posts in the ground and wire some rails 
against and on top of them. Lean the stalks against 
these and lay them thickly on top for the roof, which 
should have a steep slant. Cover the roof with a few 
inches of straw and lay a few^ stalks on top to keep it 
in place, which will make it waterproof. In the spring 
the stalks may be taken down and thrown in the barn- 
yard if no longer needed. 



CHAPTER III 



BUILDINGS FOR COLONY SYSTEM 



For certain sections of the country where th^re is 
but Httle snow in winter, the pouhry house shown in 
the cut, Figure i6, will be found a most practical affair. 
It is built something like a chicken coop, but much 
wider, and can be carried to any length desired, accord- 
ing as one, two or a dozen flocks are to be given accom- 
modations. 




FIG 16: COLONY HOUSE FOR MILU CLIMATES 



The interior of each pen is reached from the hinged 
door in the roof. From this the house can be cleaned 
out, new litter added, eggs collected and the fowls fed 
ni unpleasant weather. At all other times they are fed 
m the yards. The hinged doors in the roof are in 
perspective in the picture, and do not show their full 
width. Of course, they can be made as wide as one 
may wish. Make the whole roof of well-seasoned lum- 



BUILDIXl.S R)R ».ULUNV S\ STliAI 2^ 

ber, and paint it well. Under each Qilge of the hin^L;cd 
doors make a deep groove running down the roof to 
the eaves. This wall keep rain from beating in under 
the doors. Small windows open out from the side 
toward the yards. 

In some circumstances small detached houses can 
be made after this pattern and located far enough apart 
so that the hens can be divided into small flocks but 
given free range over a pasture or other rough land, 
each flock learning to know its own home, and going to 
it to lay, eat and roost. Even in far northern latitudes 
where snow lies deep in winter, such a plan could be 
used for the summer colonizing of fowls, the flocks 
being l^rought into winter quarters at the a])proach of 
winter. 

A Business Poultry House, designed and used in 
large numbers by H. H. Stoddard, Nebraska, is well 
adapted for use in the colony system, whereby the 
houses are placed about ten rods apart in large fields 
and the fowls given free range. Mr Stoddard put the 
cost at not above forty cents per fowl for materials. It 
is fifteen by eight and a half feet and four and a half 
feet high, with roosting accommodations for fifty fowls. 
The house is shown in Figure 17. 

The part of the roof on the south side at a a a, 
and nearly all on the north, consists of hinged doors 
opening to the right or left, and overlapping when 
closed, to shed rain. When it is desired to whitewash, 
throw open all the doors, thus turning the house inside 
out, take out the perches and nests, all built movable, 
and there will be no nook or cranny of the woodwork 
that the brush cannot be made to reach with ease, and 
no lack of elbow room. This arrangement of doors 
makes it convenient also to catch fowls upon the 
perches by night. The doors should shut as snugly as 
may be in coarse joiner work, and the cracks unavoid- 



26 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



ably left around them will afford all the ventilation 
needed in winter, while in summer they may be opened 
more or less widely, according to the weather. When 
it is warm, yet wet, they may be partly opened and 
propped up, and a board put across their edjes to shed 
rain. It is very desirable, under any plan for henneries, 
to build so that while moderately tight in win.er, they 
may be thrown open on every side in hot weather ; 
for fowls are warmly clad, and suffer much from the 
heat when in buildings made, as is too frequenJy the 
case, only with reference to the cold. The doors which 
form the north roof project six inches at the ridge to 
keep out rain, as there is no ridge-cap. The two win- 




FIG 17: H. K. STODDARD S COLONY HOUSE 



dows in the south roof are glazed greenhouse fashion, 
that is, with overlapping panes, that snow may sHde 
from them readily as soon as loosened by the warmth 
inside. They are two feet high and three feet wide, 
and set eighteen inches from the peak of the roof. A 
strip of tin is fastened over the upper part of the sash, 
and the sides and bottom of the sash overlap the roof, 
to be rain-proof. The shutters, b B, used to darken 
the building on certain necessary occasions, elsewhere 
referred to, are hinged to the lower part of the sash, 
and when opened, as in the illustration, rest upon the 
roof below the windows. The side sills project at both 



j;lildin(;s for colony system 27 

ends of the buildino-, are beveled ranner fashion, and 
strengthened with iron where holes are bored to attach 
chains; thus it may be drawn by either erid. The sills, 
which receive the principal strain durino- moving, 
should be so well braced as to keep the whole building 
in shape. The end sills, of two-inch plank, should be 
spiked upon the top of the others, flatwise, so as not 
to touch the ground while moving, and the side sills, 
four inches square, should be of cliestnut or oak, to be 
as durable as possible, for they rest on the ground dur- 
ing a good part of the year. The spruce rafters, two 
by three inches, which answer for studs and rafters 
both, should be set at such distances apart as will 
correspond with the width of the doors and windows 
which are fastened to them. A stout ridgepole, sawn 
of a triangular shape, runs the length of the building 
underneath the rafters, and two sticks are fastened to 
this ridgepole, one five feet from each end, and braced 
upon the center -of the end sills to give firmness, for 
the covering, consisting chiefly of doors, does not 
strengthen the building, as in ordinary cases, where 
the covering is nailed to the frame. C C are doors, each 
three feet by one foot, opening outward and downward, 
to give the keeper access to the nests, which are one 
foot square and the same in depth, and so contrived 
that the hens enter them at one end from a passage six 
inches wide and one foot high, boarded at side and top, 
running the length of the row of nests, and are thus 
indulged in their liking for privacy while laying. The 
nests are tight upon the top, the outside door should fit 
closely, and the opening admitting the fowls to the 
passage be made so small that the nests will be rather 
dark. It is found that when nests are open to view 
from the main apartment, hens will, in stormy weather, 
for lack of other employment, sometimes enter them to 
scratch for food, and thus by chance break eggs and 



28 I'OILTKV AKClllTiXTl Ri: 

learn to eat them, and acqnire the habit of pecknig at 
and devouring- eggs as fast as laid. But a darkened 
nest will deter them from entering, except to lay, for 
which purpose they prefer a low, dark corner. There 
is a row of six nests running across the building at each 
end, making twelve, which will be sufficient, as it will 
not happen that more than that number out of a flock 
will need them at once. The passages are made so that 
they may be taken out with the nests for whitewash- 
ing. The end sills, of plank eighteen inches wide, serve 
as a tight floor for the nests and passage. The perches, 
two in number, are eighteen inches apart and each is 
eighteen inches from the roof and two feet higher than 
the sills. Perches should be of two and a half by three 
and a half inch sawed stuff, the widest part up, with the 
upper corners rounded off a very little. When fowls 
not fully grown roost upon narrow perches, their 
breastbones sometimes become deformed. From four 
to five average sized fowls will occupy two feet of 
perch. The perches, being each twelve feet long, will 
accommodate a flock of fifty, and are to be placed so 
as not to extend over the part occupied by the nests. 
The drinking vessel stands upon one of the platforms 
formed by the nests, and upon these platforms are also 
shallow boxes containing gravel, pounded charcoal, 
and a mixture of loam, sand and oyster-shell lime, 
made into an easily crumbled mortar. The boxes are 
ten inches wide, and, being placed next the end wall, 
leave a space eight inches wide upon the platform for 
the fowls to stand upon. The drinking pail and gravel 
boxes are protected by their elevation from the dirt 
that would otherwise be thrown into them by the fowls 
when scratching and dusting, and are fronted by slats 
with openings six by two and three-fourths inches be- 
tween them. An opening is made in the end wall over 
the pail that is just large enough to admit the spout 



BUILDINGS FOR COLONY SYSTEM 29 

of a large watering pot without the sprinkler, to afford 
the most convenient arrangement for watering. The 
door, d, one foot wide, opening downward, is for re- 
moving the pail and gravel hoxes when desired, and 
when fastened ajar will be found more convenient for 
ventilation than the roof doors, when the weather is 
only moderately warm. Both ends of the building alike 
are furnished with doors. 

During the severest weather, generally about three 
or three and a half months of the year, this building 
does not stand with sills upon the ground, but for 
winter it rests, as in the figure, upon the edges of a 
box or bin of dimensions corresponding with the cen- 
ter of the sills of the building, made of planks nine 
inches wide and two thick, like a mortar bed with no 
bottom, filled with dry earth. This should be set upon 
ridges thrown up by the plow. 

During the winter a low structure six feet wide 
and twelve long, and one and a half high on one side 
and three and a lialf on the other, seen at the left in 
the illustration, serves the purpose of a feeding room, 
and the rest of the year is used as a shelter for chickens. 
Its winter location is about four feet from the larger 
building, e e e e represent doors which overlap each 
other to shed rain, and when closed rest upon the 
highest or north wall, and open upward and to the 
south, resting upon a rail attached to posts set in the 
ground. In each door is a window three feet square, 
glazed, as are all the windows in the various fowd 
houses, greenhouse style. 

This feed house is movable, being furnished with 
planks set edgewise, with runner-shaped ends for side 
sills. Inside a feed box, slatted on both sides, rests on 
cleats attached to the end walls, twenty inches from the 
north wall, and near the top of the room, so that dirt 
cannot be scratched into it. It has a shelf seven inches 



3^ 



ro U LTR Y ARC H ITECT U RE 



wide on both sides in front of the slats, on which the 
birds stand wdiile feeding, and contains a trough made 
by naihng boards three inches wide to each edge of a 
board five inches wdde. A door, f, in one end of the 
feed room, large enough to admit a fowl, communicates 
with a similar door, G, in the south side of the main 
building by a movable covered passage five and a 
half feet long, one and one-fourth high and one wide, 
it being like a box with a lid and but one end, and with 
an opening on one side. This passage is not shown in 
the illustration. 




FIG l8: NORTHERN COLONY HOUSE 



Northern Colony Houses — Farmers in the north 
wdio raise poultry extensively usually have started with 
but little capital, and have tried to build the cheapest 
possible house that would afford enough shelter to 
secure winter eggs in a severe climate. A typical house 
of this kind is shown herewith, Figure i8, depicting the 
style in use on a colony poultry farm in New Hamp- 
shire. Other farms in the state use a house of same 
style but shorter and therefore cheaper. 

A number of these houses are arranged in two 
rows at opposite sides of a ten-acre lot. 

Fach house in the row is several rods from its 
nearest neighbor. All of the houses are accessible bv 



BUILDINGS FOR COLONY Si'STLM 3I 

means of a team, which is employed to transport sup- 
phes. No fencing is used except for a few flocks, 
(hiring the breeding season. The houses, which, by the 
way, have been hberally copied by the whole neighbor- 
hood, are A-shaped, fifteen by sixteen feet, the narrow 
side to the front. The seven two by four rafters are 
eleven feet long, and are nailed at the bottom directly 
onto the sills, which are four by four and raised a foot 
or so above the ground on stones. The roof is doi.ble, 
sloping east and west, and is covered first with rough 
hemlock boards, over which are laid two thicknesses of 
tarred paper, well battened down, and finally a liberal 
coat of coal tar over all. The ends of the houses are 
made in dift'erent ways, and some are boarded and 
shingled, others battened only. Still others are treated 
like the roof. In the south end on the right side is a 
door swinging outward, which is left open every day 
unless the weather is very stormy. A slat door inside 
is found . useful to keep the hens from going out in 
inclement weather. At the left of the door is the only 
window in the house. It consists of two sashes of ordi- 
nary size, which are screwed fast in their places and 
never opened. For ventilation a hole six to eight 
inches square is cut high up in each gable. During 
summer both of these are left open, while in winter 
the back one only is closed. The soil being naturally 
rather light, no special preparation for floors is re- 
quired, further than to fill up each house with sand to 
about the top of the sills. The roost platforms are in 
the back side about four feet from the ground, and 
are four feet wide. The roosts, three or four in num- 
ber, are al)Out one foot above the platforms, which 
latter are cleaned weekly, and the roosts as often 
smeared with kerosene. Cheese boxes for nests are 
placed on a platform at the left as one enters. 



32 



roiLlRV ARClllTECTURi': 



All the chicks are hen hatched in nests at the 
right of the door, each of which is shut off by itself 
by means of slat divisions and a door which is sus- 
pended from the roof. Whenever a hen wants to sit, 
she is moved, nest, box and all, into one of these divi- 
sions and given her eggs if she means business. The 
chicks are all raised in . brooders. From thirty to 
forty fowls occupy one of these houses. 




FIG 19 



7« nil!in!"""f'/^^.'{^'^ "f ' ''m''>^^uumi//ff'fy^m 



\...,^^^^''/I 



V>,v.>vW'/''- 



RHODE ISLAND COLONY HOUSE 



Rhode Island Colony Houses — In some towns of 
southern Rhode Island poultry farming is the main 
industry. The farmers keep from two hundred to five 
thousand chickens, with smaller numbers of ducks and 
geese, and depend on them for a living. With care and 
industry a profit of one to two dollars per fowl is 
counted on each year. The soil is heavy clay and very 
wet after rain, but the fowls, having free range, keep 



BUILDINGS FOR COLONY SVSTLM 33 

in good health. In fact the heavy, rich soil is often 
mentioned by the owners as a main factor of success, 
because of the good hen pasturage it supplies. 

About two hundred and fifty fowls are assigned 
to the acre. The houses. Figure 19, are of the simplest 
plan possible, built of rough hemlock boards and hav- 
ing a small window in front, and very simple arrange 
ment inside. The cost cannot be over twenty dollars 
per house and may be made considerably less. Some 
of the houses have a double roof, others are single and 
made of rough, unmatched hemlock lumber. The roof is 
of plain boards not shingled, and no roofing or batting 
])aper is used unless as an experiment. Mr Wilbour, 
however, one of the most extensive growers, writes : 
"We have found it more economical to shingle the 
roofs. We are also careful to batten the cracks, so that 
no direct draft can come upon the fowls. The average 
cost is sixteen to tw^enty dollars per house complete. 
We have demonstrated that an inexpensive attachment, 
to serve as a scratching shed, is a good investment. 
As to warmth, direct drafts are always to be avoided, 
but we have never suffered from low temperatures. 
We use tarred paper sometimes inside, which is clean 
and healthy, but we never have been able to discover 
specially favorable or improved results." 

The cheapest style is considered the most profita- 
ble. Built in this style there is no need of providing 
for ventilation, as the air is admitted through numerous 
cracks between the boards. The fowls are outside 
almost every day in the year, as there is very little 
snow. In summer, fresh salt breezes keep the air cool 
and the fowls are vigorous and active the year around. 
Kept in such large numbers, the laying poultry docs 
not reach the high average production found in some 
small flocks. Probably one hundred to one hundred 
and twenty per hen would cover the average annual 



34 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 

production of the southern Rhode Island hen. But 
this rate of product is found quite profitable because of 
the small expense for buildings, labor and feed. On 
account of the lack of railroad transportation, grain 
costs more than elsewhere, but the addition of this is 
not serious. 

It might be supposed that the various flocks, hav- 
ing no fences between, would become hopelessly mixed 
at feeding time. But such is not the case, after the 
birds have learned their home by being shut into it for 
a few days. Mr Wilbour says : "We have no trouble in 
feeding, with a horse and man driving from one 
poultry house to another. If the hens do mix up a 
little they separate at once and return to their respec- 
tive houses. Except our breeding flocks we keep no 
males with our hens upon the theory that infertile eggs 
keep best.'' 



CHAPTER IV 

HOMES FOR FARM POULTRY 

When properly managed, poultry is one of the 
most profitable products of the farm. With a few in- 
expensive, conveniently arranged buildings and yards 
one person can annually raise five hundred to eight 
hundred chicks without much difficulty, and the loss 
need not exceed two per cent. Here is a sketch and 
description of such an outfit. The plan and description 
is by Fred Grundy, Christian county, Illinois, and was 
awarded first prize in a poultry descriptive contest by 
publishers of American Agriculturist in 1900. 

The two yards, Figure 20, are one hundred and 
fifty feet long. Number i is for the hens and is 
thirty-two feet wide. Fence is four-foot netting, two- 
inch mesh, with six-inch board at bottom. Number 
2 is for chicks and is sixteen feet wide. Fence same 
as Number i, except that there is twelve-inch board 
at bottom to keep chicks in. Some prefer twelve-inch 
netting, one-inch mesh, at bottom. Either will do. 
Each yard has a five-foot gate next to the house to 
admit horse and plow. Cherry or other fruit trees are 
set near together at lower end of yards and partly 
along sides, outside the fence, and one apple tree at 
front corners of house. Both yards are plowed early 
in spring. Number i heavily seeded with millet. Num- 
ber 2 with rape. Plow Number i again in October 
and sow rye. 

At north or west end of yards is house, eight feet 
high in front, six and a half at back, ten and a half feet 




'■i»0^^' 



/vo/ 



I 'il- I t I 



4 



' " 'M'" 



32 Ji/SCr 



iimiiiiri 






1 



FfOV 






FIG 20: GRUNDY S POULTRY HOUSE AND YARD 



HOMES FOR FARM roiL'IRY 37 

wide. Plain barn siding battened, interior lined with 
two-ply tarred sheathing and roof covered with three- 
ply tarred roofing felt. This makes it wind and rain 
proof. Floors are earth raised a few inches. House 
is painted and looks neat. The building is divided as 
follows : a is an open scratching shed sixteen feet long ; 
front is boarded down three feet from top. b is hen- 
house with door at each end. Perches are eighteen 
inches high, hinged to back wall, and supported in 
front and center by legs which stand on the floor. 
They can be raised out of the way and hung to the 
ceiling when the floor is swept. There is a double 
row of nests, twelve by twelve inches, one above the 
other, separate from the house and can be moved about 
or taken out for cleaning, c is chick house, sixteen 
feet long, door at each end. There is a row of coops, 
fourteen by twenty-four, at back for hens with chicks. 
The partitions between the coops are loose and can 
be drawn out so the hen can be passed along when a 
coop needs cleaning. The floor of the coop is a single 
inch-thick piece and lies loose on three inches of gravel 
or coal ashes. Front is fitted with a sliding door made 
of inch-mesh netting attached to a wood frame. 

Fanners' Poultry House — A Massachusetts poul- 
tryman, W. H. Wells, has built a house. Figure 21, 
v/hich he finds successful and which he made at low 
cost by using odds and ends of lumber about the 
farm. It is located on a natural ridge where drainage 
is good in all directions. To quote from ]\Ir Wells's 
directions : 

"The illustration shows a farmers' poultry house 
outside, with plan of roosts shown in lower corner 
and dimensions in feet and inches. Also frame of 
house, a, foundation stone ; b, frame and rafters ; c, 
boarding paper under shingles ; d, window partly open 
for ventilation. 



38 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



"Dig two parallel ditches fourteen and a half feet 
apart, measuring from outsides, and each eighteen 
feet by twelve inches. Fill them with cobblestones. 
Place flat stones on a bed of cobbles every six feet, with 
their faces inclined toward each other. These are 
within the ditch. For rafters I prefer eight-inch round 
timber split through the center. Don't let the stone 
that the rafter sits on project above the support or it 
will conduct the water against the end of the support 
and rot it. Let the first course of shingles lap over 
the foundation stones. 

"The scratching shed is the last or end section in a 
house of three sections, but would be in the middle 




FIG 21 



FARMERS POULTRY HOUSE 



section in a house of five sections, or the two center 
sections in a house of six sections. Each section repre- 
sents six feet of the length of the house. The sections 
used for scratching sheds are partitioned from the 
main house. When we have a scratching shed we place 
the door in the partition between the shed and the 
house as near the front side as possible. 

"In forming the projections for the window, don't 
use any timber larger than two by four inches, and 
those only for the short rafter and the upright. If two 
by six inches is used for the main timbers, use one by 
four for the uprights or the division between the win- 
dows. The ends of this house are finished the same 
as the roof, exceut that the shed is not papered, but the 



HOMES FOR FARM POULTRY 39 

partition between the shed and house proper is papered. 
The roosts are shown in the plan, but are not taken 
into account in the cost, as nearly everyone has his 
own ideas in regard to what is required for roosts and 
nests. Standards for the roosts are three feet high, 
notched at the top to hold the roosting poles. The box 
underneath for the droppings should be sunk into the 
ground within two inches of the top, or hens will roost 
on the sides. The roost is movable and must not be 
fastened to the top of standards, as it will interfere 
with cleaning the trough. 

''The twenty-five-hen size requires lumber as fol- 
lows, cheap grades being used and odds and ends util- 
ized where possible. Four pieces each of the following : 
Fourteen feet by two by six inches, twelve feet by two 
by six inches, six feet by two by six inches, six feet 
by tw^o by four inches, three pieces eight feet by two by 
four inches and two pieces twelve feet by two by four 
inches ; one door two and one-half by six and one- 
third feet b}' one and one-fourth inches ; eight hundred 
feet Number 2 boards, six dollars per thousand feet ; 
five thousand Number 2 shingles, one dollar and a 
quarter per thousand ; two sashes to fill space four and 
one-third by five feet ten inches, glass nine bv twelve 
inches ; ninety square yards building paper ; twenty- 
five pounds tenpenny nails and three sets hinges with 
screws. Total cost of material, twenty-one dollars 
and forty-eight cents ; labor one man four days, six 
dollars. 

"By using cheap material, such as paper mill 
waste for sheathing paper, shingles sawed from lumber 
of the farm, old windows, etc, I managed to reduce 
actual cost of labor and all to twenty dollars and three 
cents. In longer houses of the same style the cost can 
be brought down to one dollar per running foot, in- 
cluding labor. A small house requires as many gables 



40 



POULTRY A RC H I T ECT U RE 



and ends to be finished as it it were tliree times as loni^, 
and hence is more costly in proportion. Don't think it 
necessary to follow exactly the measures here given. 
If you have old windows, build your section to fit 
them. If there are old boards that will do to cover the 
roof, use them and put in more of the mam rafters to 
nail to. One can use simply round poles for main 
rafters and still the building will be a success. Simply 
do the best you can with what you have to do with in 
time, money and material, but don't forget to paper 
underneath the shinijles." 




FIG 22 : HOUSE EASILY REMOVED 



Can Be Easily Taken Apart — Herewith is pre- 
sented a plan, elevation (Figures 22, 27,), details and 
bill of materials for a movable chicken house which 
almost anyone can construct. The cost is not great, 
depending on the kind and quality of lumber used. 
The elevation shows a shed roof, which is the cheaper, 
though not so fine in appearance. A double-pitched 
roof allows more available head room, thus making it 



iiUAlES FUR FARM POULTRY 



41 



more convenient to work inside. A movable house 
having the floor raised some distance above the ground, 
thus affording underneath a resting place and shelter 
from sun, wind and rain, is for many reasons a de- 
cided improvement over stationary houses. 




FIG 22f : INTERIOR AND DETAILS 



A house like this has been in use over a year and 
a half and seems to meet all requirements for fifteen 
to twenty fowls. It has a run thirty by forty feet. The 
house is moved to a new site, spring and fall, and is 



42 POULTRY architecturh: 

easily moved on rollers and some pieces of two by fours 
by a man and boy. A ground floor sbould be pre- 
viously prepared by spading around a center line and 
throwing the earth up until a space eighteen inches 
larger each way than the house has been raised six 
inches above the surrounding surface. This should be 
raked level, and well rammed, so as to pitch slightly 
toward the front. The margins should be particularly 
well rammed to discourage scratching and prevent 
washing. Upon this floor lay the two pieces of two 
by fours for the house to rest on. 

The gable is shown not inclosed. The triangular 
piece which closes this may be hinged to the roof so as 
to swing outward, wdiich will afford ventilation in 
summer. The roosts should be all the same hight from 
the floor, and if each is divided by a couple of pickets 
projecting one foot above it there will be less crowd- 
ing. Loose nest boxes are set on the floor. The win- 
dow shown is amply large. It is covered outside with 
small-mesh wire netting, and in summer the sash is 
removed. A very useful addition for winter would 
be a sort of closed 'iean-to," which could be set against 
the open side to provide extended shelter and a pro- 
tected feeding place in stormy weather. This could be 
used as a coop during the breeding season. 

The following bill of materials is required : Four 
two by four sixteen feet for plates, sills and posts, two 
two by four twelve feet for plates, sills and foundation, 
twenty-four one by eight twelve feet, or one hundred 
and seventy square feet for sides, seven one by eight 
fourteen feet, or sixty-five feet, for roof, six one by 
eight sixteen feet, or fifty feet, for floor, two pounds 
tenpenny, four pounds eightpenny and one pound 
sixpenny cut nails, one piece small-mesh wire netting 
three by three, with staples, one six-light eight by ten 
glass sash, one roll two or three-ply roofing paper, one 



HUMES FUR FARM PULLTRY 



43 



and one-half pounds inch wire nails and tins, one pair 
three-inch strap hinges. 

The buildings on the C. H. Wyckoff farm, Tomp- 
kins county, New York, the well-known Leghorn 
specialist, are twelve feet wide by forty feet long and 




P PEl?CH£S 

T TROUGHS FOR DRGPPIN65 

A AtLEY 

H N£ST6 

FIG 24: END VIEW OF HOUSE AND DETAILS 



six feet high (see Figure 24), having a shingled roof 
with a one foot in three feet pitch. The sides and 
ends are double boarded, so as to break joints, with 
tarred paper between. The plates, sleepers, etc, are of 
two by four-inch scantlings. Each house is divided the 
long way by a partition into two equal compartments 
and each has a yard adjoining which accommodates 
sixty fowls. The two perches, which are along the 



44 POULTRY ARCHITKCTLRE 

north side of the house, are placed thirteen inches apart 
and eighteen inches above the platform which catches 
the droppings and also serves as a cover to the nest 
boxes. Everything in the building is easily removable. 
The floor is cleaned once a week and the partition 
under the perches is cleaned twice a w^eek and plastered 
daily. Cleaning under the nests is accomplished by 
lifting the perches and scraping the trough. The 
eggs are gathered by lifting the hanging board floor 
which forms the sides and roof platform. A dark 
passageway leads along the back of the nest boxes and 
affords a secrecy and exclusiveness to the laying hen 
which is highly desirable. 

The feed trough is made by nailing together two- 
inch boards sixteen feet long by six inches wide in the 
form of a V trough. Water is kept in a pan, over 
which is placed a round flat box (see Figure 2 in 
Figure 24), through the sides of which the fowls can 
reach for the water and still cannot soil the water nor 
overturn the pan. The dust box is made by nailing a 
board across one corner of the room. Two windows, 
each containing six ten by twelve-inch lights, are placed 
in the south side of each apartment. More glass would ' 
make the house colder at night and warmer during 
the day owing to the rapidity with which glass radiates 
heat. No other ventilation is provided, except as the 
windows are opened by sliding. The floor is laid with- 
out an air space over a bottom of fine stone and gravel 
and is made practically air-tight by the dirt which fills 
the cracks. Well drained earth floors were first tried, 
but proved unsatisfactory because of the moist con- 
dition of the soil, which kept the floor cold and damp 
and made it necessary to remove the soil frequently, 
replacing it with new earth. 

The yards are two rods wide by eight long and 
contain twelve thrifty plum trees set in a row through 



HUMES FUR FARM i'OLLTRY 



45 



the middle. Every twu weeks during the summer the 
halves of the yards are alternately plowed. The fence 
is six feet high and is made hy wiring to chestnut 
poles panels made by nailing pickets two and one-half 
inches wide the same distance apart. The entire cost 
of each building, including the fence, did not exceed 
one hundred dollars. The fence alone cost for material 
seventy cents per rod. 

Movable Chicken Coop — During winter poultry- 
men should find time to repair old chicken coops and 
make new ones. With ordinary care more vigorous 




FIG 25 : MOVABLE COOP 



pullets can be raised by scattering them about the fields 
in small colonies after haying, as insects then form a 
very cheap and important portion of their diet. When 
biddy brings forth her brood, place in one of the coops 
with the movable run in position. This allows her to 
get to the ground. After she leaves her chicks the 
run is removed, the roosts placed in position and the 
family moved to any convenient spot. Pullets may 
be sheltered in such a house until cold weather or until 
they begin to lay. The coops will accommodate 
twenty-five chicks or ten well-grown pullets. It is 
four by three feet, and two and one-half feet high at 



40 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



the eaves. The run is four by three feet. The run and 
roof are built with a pitch of ninety degrees. The 
sills are of two by four material and extended as shown 
in Figure 25, to facilitate moving. The plates are of 
two by two-inch material, and extended each way one 
foot beyond the eaves for handles. The sides, roof and 
floor are of jointed pine boards. The roof is covered 
with one thickness of sheathing paper, held in place 
by cleats. If this is jointed it will make a waterproof 




»KnaaBaanaB3aBeaaN 



FLOOR PLAN 



' U I l| 



m 

' ' ' I t 



m 



m 



Ff.QHT ELLVATION 
FIG 26: AN OREGON PLAN 



roof that will last a number of seasons. The first fifteen 
inches below each gable should be of half-inch wire 
netting for ventilation. Each end is provided with a 
door one foot wide, one hinged, the other arranged 
to slide. The roof should have a two-inch projection 
all around to throw rain. The run is made by nailing 
laths two and one-half inches apart upon a frame made 
of two by two-inch scantling. Two men can easily 



HOMES FOR FARM POULTRY 47 

move this coop from one part of a field to another, 
giving the chicks new feeding room. 

An Oregon Plan — The plan of Figure 26 was used 
for the construction of a house for one hundred fowls 
and has been found convenient and satisfactory. It 
is built box style with the joists placed on top of the 
sills. The roof has a one-third pitch, or four feet rise 
in twelve, with eight-inch eaves. Place the building 
upon posts two feet from the ground, so the fowls can 
get under it, as it makes a fine dusting place in winter 
or summer. Entrance for the fowls is made under each 
window, which should face the south or east. A board 
may be placed from the entrance to the ground and 
cleats nailed on as steps. In the construction was 
used ten or twelve-inch ship lap for floor and sides, 
lined with tar paper both sides and roof. For the 
house, as illustrated, there will be needed one thousand 
one hundred and seventy-five feet ship lap, two sills 
four by six by thirty-two feet, seventeen joists two by 
six by twelve feet, seventeen rafters two by four by 
fifteen feet, six plates two by four by sixteen feet, for 
posts one piece six by six by sixteen feet, old boards 
for roof boards or new lumber laid close together. 
Lay the shingles four inches to the weather, of which 
four thousand five hundred will be required. Parti- 
tions may be of one by two-inch strips placed two 
inches apart or they may be of boards. In the floor 
plan are shown the four windows by heavy lines, doors 
inside opening from partition to wall from coop to 
coop. The nests are conveniently arranged on each 
side of each pen. 

Coop for the South — D. D. Doane, a successful 
Florida poultry keeper, describes a house of slats. 
Figure 2"/, warm enough for the climate and cool in 
summer : 



HOMES FOR FARM POULTRY 49 

"My hens run at larg^e around the house and barn, 
which stand inclosed in a two-acre field seeded to Ber- 
muda grass. The flock consists of sixty-three hens and 
one male, all White Leghorns, nearly pure. The hen- 
house is twelve feet long, six feet wide and six feet 
from floor to peak. It has a cement floor, is swept 
ever}' Saturday and dusted with sand. The house is 
made of pine shakes and roofed with hand-made pine 
shingles. Laying boxes, running the whole length of 
house, are placed outside on each side, so that -I do not 
have to go inside the house except to sweep it. The 
morning feeding place is on a board floor resting on 
sawhorses three feet from the ground, so that pigs 
cannot get the feed nor disturb the fowls. 

"The henhouse costs about two days' labor in cut- 
ting down pine trees and splitting up into shakes and 
shingles. The chickens are hatched under hens and 
raised in a homemade brooder so the hens can go back 
to laying as soon as possible. In front of brooder I 
have a yard about six by eight feet made of wire 
netting." 

House for One Hundred Fowls — The building is 
made of two by four-inch joists, sheeted, papered and 
sided. The inside is sheeted, papered and ceiled. The 
dead air space is not filled as it is much drier. In Fig- 
ure 28, at a are four perches ; b is an incline hung on 
hinges with the lower edge over the box e to receive 
droppings. The end of the box c not under the roosts 
is used as a dust box. The feed trough is at d. A par- 
tition is made of two by four studding which is ceiled 
up with wire netting to allow light from windows 
across the passage. Nest boxes are at r, one-half of 
each extending through the wire partition, with a 
hinged cover. Large windows are placed in the 
upright eight-foot front. Figure 28 shows the end 



50 



^OTLTRV ARCHITFXTURE 



view. This coop has had several years' trial and has 
proven convenient. 

House zcith Cloth Run — The distinctive feature of 
this henhouse (Figure 29) is the portion huilt entirely 
of oilcloth. The frames are made so that thev can be 




FIG 28: HOUSE FOR ONE HUNDRED FOWLS 



easily taken apart. They are m.erely tied together and 
lightly nailed to strong corner posts. This cloth run is 
excellent for chicks in early spring. When they are a 
few weeks old, a hole is made under the frame to let 
them out. Don't make the hole large enough for the 



HOMES FOR FARM POULTRY 



51 



older fowls or for cats. The main henhouse is twelve 
by six by eight feet high, with slightly sloping roof. 
The cloth run is twelve by six by six feet high. The 
floor of the main house is raised two feet, allowing an 
extra run beneath for the chicks. This oiled cloth was 
used also for doors and for coverings for hotbeds, and 
it has lasted several years. 

L-Shapcd House — A poultryman submits this in- 
terior plan of a poultry house (Figure 30 j which has 
given him satisfaction. The shed faces toward the 
south, which is the left-hand side of the drawing. The 




FIG 29 : HOUSE WITH CLOTH RUN 



windows face the east, thus the birds get the morning 
and midday sun, either in the house or in the shed. 
The construction makes it convenient to reach all parts 
of the house and the cost is claimed to be no greater 
than by the ordinary method by which shed and main 
house are under a continuous roof. 

Octagon House — The octagon form has advan- 
tages. It is strong, compact and affords a larger area 
in proportion to the amount of outside wall than a rec- 
tangle. The timbers, being short, may be light. More- 
over, it can catch more winter sunshine. 



52 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



The area of tlie poultry house represented by the 
accompanying ground plan, Figure 31, is three hun- 
dred and three square feet. This is a little more than 
that of a rectangular house ten by thirty feet. The sides 
being eight feet each, the total outside lineal measure- 
ment is sixty-four feet, whereas that of the rectangular 
house is eighty feet. With three windows, as shown in 



[ 


/? 








s 


r 


s 










A/esTJ 1 






1 fV///oo»>/ 
























op^r/f//f/) 



FIG 30: L-SIIAPED HOUSE WITH SHED 



the illustration, direct sunshine is admitted from dawn 
until sunset. The transverse partition is mainly of wire 
netting and the door may be wholly removed at the end 
of the brooding season. 

The dusting box is placed directly beneath the 
south window. The perches fit into slots at the ends, 
so as to be movable. It is needless to partition off the 



HUMES FOR FARM POULTRY 



56 



roosting place, but a curtain of old burlap hung in 
front of it in winter will add greatly to the comfort of 
the fowls and consequently to the contents of the egg 
basket. 

Good Winter House — The building (Figure 32) 
is thirty by ten feet, frame construction, and is elevated 
one and one-third feet from the ground. The building 




/^'E/PCAfEJ 



/^LA rroj?/^ 






Jc/PATC/i/m AA//> 

ffeo /Poorf 




FIG 31 : OCTAGON HOUSE 



is divided into three rooms ten by ten feet respectively. 
To the left is the brooder room, where the hens are 
set and where the chickens are reared. Along the 
side of this room are rows of nests which are separated 
from each other by partitions, and have each a door in 
front. Everything is portable and can easily be taken 



54 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



out, cleaned and disinfected. To the right is the roost 
room. All droppings fall into a trough and the room 
can easily be kept clean. The roost is also portable. 
In the middle is the feed and scratch room, and above 
the same is a pigeon house the width of the building. 
In the feed and scratch room are also portable 
nests. The door in the middle room is on rollers and 
opens the whole length of the room. On the inside, 
wire netting is placed across windows. The windows 
can slide and are open for summer use. Construction 
is as follows : Double floors and between each section a 
thick layer of paper. Sides are built of boxing, then 
papered and weather-boarded. The roof is boarded, 




FIG 32: GOOD WINTER HOUSE 



papered and shingled, thus insuring a warm house for 
winter layers. The cost of the poultry house is thirty 
dollars, and is a good investment. 

A Good Poultry House — The henhouse here 
shown (Figure 33) has proved very satisfactory. It 
is twenty feet long, ten feet wide, seven feet high in 
front and four feet in rear. The scratching shed is 
eight feet long and should be on the east side. The 
window is tv/o by five feet eight inches, using glass 
twelve by sixteen inches. It is one foot from the floor, 
which admits sunshine over most of the floor surface 
and does not give too much light on roosts, which is 
undesirable. A small door with slide arrangement is 
cut beneath window for fowls to go in and out. The 



HOMES t'OR FARM I'OULTRY 



55 



large door is two by six feet ; another door of like 
dimensions should be cut in east side of house proper 
to allow entrance to scratching shed. In severe 
weather a canvas can be hung inside over the wire 
front. Nests are arranged in the intervening spaces, 
eighteen inches above floor, around the front and 
two ends. 

The roosts are the full length of the rear and 
extend six feet from back wall toward the front. 
These should be three feet high and built as in the 




FIG 33 : GOOD HOUSE WITH INTERIOR FIXTURES 



figure. This allows ample room to clean underneath 
and to lift out the troughs. The roosting poles are on 
a level and at each end fitted snugly into sawed notches. 
All can be easily removed for cleaning, as may the 
bottoms of the nests, which have short movable boards 
for the floor of the nests. Drinking cans or troughs 
are arranged just under the window; dust and grit 
boxes likewise. A house similarly constructed with all 
needful inside arrangements can be built for twenty- 



5^ 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



five dollars. If lined with light Ijuilding paper it will 
be nearly frost proof and easily kept free of vermin. 
Any kind of a floor can be made, but the builder pre- 
fers a raised earthen floor. Muck or clay well packed, 
then wet thoroughly, will after dr}'ing make a floor that 
can be swept. Sand should be thrown over it after 
cleaning and before litter is put in the house. 

Light Henhouse — The building is ten by thirty 
feet, with cement floor, covered with matched lumber, 
and the inside is lathed and plastered overhead and on 
the sides. Beneath the lath is tarred paper. On the 
south side are plenty of windows, and when the sun is 





FIG 34: INTERIOR COXTRIVANCES 



shining, as the building is practically air-tight the bid- 
dies think that the coldest day is a summer one. The 
roosts are of uniform hight and are movable. The out- 
side of the building is painted and has a ventilator on 
the roof, which makes it an ornament to the farm. 
Being somewhat of a carpenter, I did the work myself, 
which reduced the" expense. — fF. A. Smart, Oswego 
County, New York. 

Interior Contrivauees — This poultry house is a 
balloon frame of tw^o by four joist. It is eighteen feet 
wide and sheathed with inch boards tightly fitted to- 



HOMES FOR FARM POULTRY 



57 



gether, then papered and sided tightly. The inside is 
iilled to top of sills with fine stone, covered with dirt. 
The house is divided into twelve-foot pens the length 
of the building, with wire partitions between. There 
is one large window, a (Figure 34), each side of every 
twelve-foot pen, two feet from the sills. The pens are 
ten feet high. There is a tight floor overhead, thickly 
covered with cawdust. Through the floor is a ventila- 
ting trap door, b, one by twelve feet, in each pen, with 
a rope and pulley attachment permitting the ventilating 
trap door to be operated from the hallway on one side 
of the building. The inside building is of sheathing, 
stuffed solid with sawdust and chaff. There is a self- 



L S w|w 

U— Uoors 



T^oosTS 



fC) 



W i-. W u 



w, 



ft— Water. •S— SliuttcM-s. VV'-Winduw: 

FIG 35 : A MAINE HENHOUSE 



shutting screen door, c, in each pen. The roosts, d, 
are two by four, set in notches and hung by four half- 
inch round irons. The roosts are all painted with coal 
tar and are removable. Under the roosts is a large 
shelf, e, hinged so as to let down to a long, narrow^ box, 
f, for holding the droppings. 

Another well-arranged interior is shown at the 
right of Figure 34. The owner, I. B. Koons, Penn- 
sylvania, writes : "The upper part, in which the fowls 
roost, is made as air-tight as possible, the walls being 



58 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 

covered with tarred paper, so that no air can come in 
from below or at the sides. 

"The ventilator draws out air from below the hens, 
while at the top or peak of the room 1 have made an 
opening to draw out all the foul air from the compart- 
ment in which the hens roost. There is no draft 
around hens and in the morning their roosting place 
smells as clean as at night. They are very healthy, lay 
well and have had no sick fowls in the flock since I 
used this system. The house is ten by twelve feet, with 
a dust pen two by seven feet, covered with glass. I 
keep forty hens in this house, and they have a run of 
about one-quarter acre." 

A Maine Henhouse — It is thirty-six feet long and 
fourteen feet wide (Figure 35), and will accommodate 
fifty to sixty hens. The apartments at the ends are 
called scratching rooms, and have no floor. The shut- 
ters are four by four feet, hinged at the top, and opened 
in the daytime to admit sun, light and air ; they are 
also opened on cloudy days, if it is not too cold. 



CHAPTER V 

BANK AND SOD STRUCTURES 

Every western farmer may have one of these com- 
fortable houses (Figure 36) with httle cost and a 
comparative!}^ small amount of labor. The sod may be 
turned at any time in the year when the ground is 
not frozen. A firm, well-grassed sod is best, but other 
will do, the only difference being in the length of time 
the building will last. The walls are laid up with 
bricks of sod about twelve by twelve inches and laid 
like bricks with the exception of the cement, nothing 
of that kind being used. The sod is turned down and 
the walls are made twenty-four inches thick, two lavers 
of sod being used. 

Timbers are used above openings for doors and 
windows ; and casings are used as a frame. The roof 
should slope about two feet and should project on all 
sides at least two feet to protect walls from moisture. 
Rafters and three-fourths-inch lumber, covered with 
dirt or sod, make the roof. Poles and brush may be 
used instead of lumber, but are not so good. 

It is fourteen by thirty-eight feet, outside dimen- 
sions, and contains two rooms. The roosting room is 
ten by eighteen feet, inside measure, and contains two 
sections of swinging roosts, each six by eight feet, 
leaving a passage at each end and a three-foot passage 
the whole length on the south, where the three windows 
are located. There is a stovepipe ventilator in each 
room, which can be partially closed in winter. The 
roosts are about two and one-half feet from the floor 



6o 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



and swung on fence wire from the cross sections at 
the roof. 

Opening from the roosting room is the scratch- 
ing and nest room, which is ten by fourteen feet, inside 
measure. In slimmer it is used only for nests. These 
nests run the entire length of the room on the north 
and across the ends, except where the doors interfere. 
They are two feet deep — if fowls are large they could 
be lower — and filled up about one foot with cut straw. 








FIG 36: A PRAIRIE HENHOUSE 



On the south are two full-sized windows, giving plenty 
of light and sunshine for winter, and easily blinded 
in summer, when so much light is not desirable. 
Floors are of dirt, covered with straw for scratching 
or swept clean when summer comes. Fowls will lay 
the whole season. They are warm in winter and cool 
in summer, and they seem to like the dirt walls. 

Henhouse of a Kansas Fanner — The sod house 
shown in the illustration (Figure 37) I have found 



BANK AND SOI) STRUCT IRKS 



6i 



healthful, convenient, and large enough to accom no- 
date seventy-five to one hundred hens. In a bank 
sloping southwest I made an excavation twelve feet 
east and west by twenty-two feet north and south. At 
the southwest corner the excavation was on a level 
with the surface of the ground; at the north side it 
was two and one-half feet deep. Around the edges I 
built a sod wall, making its upper edge five feet above 
the floor. I roofed the north half with boards and 
covered with tar paper. A border of sod was placed all 
around the edge, then the whole overlaid with six 
inches of gypsum taken from a pit near by. In the 
south half of the roof I put two hotbed sashes three 




FIG 37 : HENHOUSE OF KANSAS FARMER 

by nine feet and covered the remainder of the space the 
same as the north side. In the walls were placed two 
glass windows and a door with glass in the upper part. 
In the north wall there is a window level with the 
roosts eighteen inches high and five feet long. It is 
used for ventilation in the summer. In winter it is 
covered with boards and banked with earth. The win- 
dows are hinged and covered with heavy wire netting. 
I have an extra lattice door for summer. 

The walls were given two coats of gypsum or 
poor man's plaster (very abundant in the southwest), 
and when dry a heavy whitewash was applied to fill 
all cracks. Roosts occupy the north half. The south 



62 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



half under glass is reserved for nests and a feeding 
ground during stormy weather. The floor under the 
roosts is made of gypsum, cement and sand. — [E. H. 
H., Kansas. 

Making a AU^braska Sod House — Plow the sod 
one foot wide and four inches deep, and for a three- 
foot wall cut with spade into two-foot lengths. Build 
around the four sides (Figure 38), keeping the walls 




**"•■■/,,//. 



FIG 38 : A NEBRASKA SOD HOUSE 



as near the same hight as possihle, so they will settle 
alike. Always lay the grassy side of the sod down. 
Smooth of? with spade, filling cracks with the dirt, 
making a solid, compact wall. Lay the sod as you 
would brick, so there will be no running cracks. Leave 
places for door and windows slightly narrower than 
the frames, sod up till almost to the top, then fit in the 
frames tight, and over each put a board, one two by 
twelve by six inches will do, to support the weight of 
the sod above. 



BANK AND SOD STRUCTURES 



^3 



Have the roof project a foot over the walls, so as 
to drain the water well off the top of the walls. Grooved 
boards, battened, make a good roof, although many 
prefer to cover the boards with tar felt and then a 
layer of sod. The only objection to this is that after 
two or three years the tar felt has to be renewed and 
new sod added. But it makes the warmest roof, and 
if carefully put on sheds water as well as a shingled 
roof. The small drawing shows window as it appears 
within, and indicates supports for roosts. 




FIG 39 : HOUSE IN A SAND BANK 



House in a Sand Bank — A henhouse which com- 
bines warmth and cheapness can be made as follows, 
and as shown in the accompanying engraving, Figure 
39 : Select a well-drained sand bank sloping to the 
south or southeast. Perhaps such a place is handy, 
from which quantities of sand or gravel have been 
taken until there is already dug a place large enough 
to put up just what is wanted — a henhouse entirely in 
the sand, except the front. The only objectionable 
feature in a building of this kind is dampness, and from 
the start this must be provided against carefully by a 
thorough system of drainage, both above and below. 



64 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 

For this purpose tiles are almost indispensable. If the 
water can be kept away, the fowls will find the sand 
agreeable and the situation warm and healthful, while 
its exposure to the southern sun will give the layers a 
chance to bask and exercise all day and they will lay 
as well as during summer, provided their food be of 
the right kind and varied. On starting, draw from 
the woods enough seven-foot posts to set one every five 
feet across the space to be occupied by the front of 
the building. Or these may be placed in position 
standing squarely with sawed ends on flat stones im- 
bedded in the sand. On top of them spike a six-inch 
pole the length of the front of the building. 

Another row of posts of the Scme length or per- 
haps one foot shorter should be placed further into the 
sand bank where the back of the building is to come, 
with a rider on top as mentioned for the plate on the 
first posts, or if an abundance of stone be handy, this 
row of posts can be replaced I3}' a wall. Wood, how- 
ever, is preferable, because it doesn't gather and hold 
moisture so much, but is more expensive because less 
durable. Across these horizontal top poles run heavy, 
rough timbers six to ten inches in diameter. These 
will not need sawing, and can be rudely spiked or 
pinned to the poles. The entire structure must be 
heavily built, because it is to be roofed with sand and 
sod. Above the rafters, which are as well flat as any 
other way, should be laid a quantity of slabs or straight 
poles close together. On these may be thrown a layer 
of sweet fern or hardback brush, or even a mat of dried 
leaves, to be followed by two feet or more of sand. 
Over the sand spread at least six inches of good loam, 
and sod over this. 

It should be mounded enough to shed rain toler- 
ably well and will look on top like old-fashioned out- 
door cellars so common in the Hudson river valley. 



HANK AXU SOD STRUCTl RES 



^5 



The sides may be treated in tlie same manner with 
slabs and leaves and heavily banked with sand. The 
entire job can be sodded so that it will be far from ugly 
in appearance. The front should slope gently from the 
top of the posts to the ground, the bottom being about 
two feet from the posts. From this point the earth 
should rapidly descend so that all water may be car- 
ried away from the building. Two windows of good 




FIG 40: WINDPROOF STRUCTURE 



size, but not too large, and a door may be placed in 
front of this building, and roosts and nests within. 

A JVindproof Poultry House — It is built of five 
pairs of two by four-inch scantling set two and one- 
half feet apart on either side of the ridgepole of the 
same stuff (Figure 40). These are covered with 
boards and the ends beveled. The structure is built 
over a pit two and one-half feet deep and banked over 
with the earth from the pit to the depth of two feet, 



66 



POULTRY ARCHITECl UKE 



excepting the south end, which is furnished with a 
door made of two sashes of glass. 

The doorway is recessed and fitted with a sohd 
door (outside of the glass door) to be closed in very 
cold weather at night. Ventilation is provided by a 
piece of two-inch tin leader passing through the roof 
and the earth banking. It should be kept clear of snow. 




FIG 41 : A LOG CHICKEN HOUSE 



,a«»^''>-'-* 



A roost runs the length of the building, eighteen 
inches above the floor, and the nest boxes are placed 
just above it. The house is nine feet wide, eight feet 
high and thirteen feet long, and holds twenty fowls. 

A Log Chicken House — I cut all logs exactly the 
required length. The average size was about seven 
inches in diameter. I did all the work alone. First 
lay the sill logs and toenail on the corners, making 
the logs two by four by eight feet and two by six by 



BANK AND SOU STRUCTURES 



67 



eight feet (Figure 41 j. Spike these two together and 
brace from the inside so they will be perfectly plumb. 
Now start putting up the logs one side at a time, or 
build all the sides evenly as you go. Drive a spike into 




FIG 42 : A BANK WALL HOUSE 



«x/0 

mtn^ 
' 3 



71 



T^' 



S / /o 

rrm 



i. 



FIG 43 : INTERIOR OF BANK WALL HOUSE 



your two by four and two by six-inch sills and into your 
logs as fast as you go, so as to hold them in place. 
You can put a round log in the corner six inches in 
diameter and eight feet long. After the house has been 
l)uilt, spike the two by four on this and also the plate 
logs. Peel the logs. — f A. L. Lord, Wisconsin. 



68 



rULLTKY ARCHITECT LRE 



A Bank Wall House — This building (Figure 42) 
is ten by twenty feet with seven-foot posts in front, a 
three-foot wall and four-foot posts in the rear. The 
doors at the ends should be boarded up and entrance 
made to the two rooms from the hallway, which ma\- 
be used as a hatching room. Still better, abolish all 
doors in front and enter through an end door. Figure 
43 shows the interior arrangement. The hatching 
room may be used to store feed when not used for 
hatching. The hatching nests will be used for laying 




my^^^^y^y^jr^ y^ 



FIG 44: WARM AND COXVENIENT BUILDING 



until a hen wishes to sit, when they may be closed to 
the roosting room and opened at the other end. These 
nests may be raised three inches from the ground. The 
extra nests are raised fifteen inches. Coops may be 
built under them to shut up sitters. 

Warm and Convenient — The poultry house shown 
herewith (Figure 44) is built into a bank and faces 
south. The wall up to the surface is of rough stone. 
There is no door at the east end to let in the cold, the 
door being on the south, where the roof is cut as for a 
dormer window. One enters and passes through to 



UANK AND SUD STRUCTURES 69 

the back side of the house, where there is a walk behind 
the pens. Such a house can be made any length, keep- 
ing the pens equal in number on each side of the door- 
way. This arrangement probably gives the warmest 
poultry house that can be built. 



CHAPTER VI 



HIGII-GRAUE PLANTS 



Detailed specifications for a building carefully 
made according to architect's plans are frequently 
wanted. The houses of which descriptions are given 
are in actual use, and are both practical and orna- 
mental. The plans, in the hands of an intelligent work- 
man, will give highly satisfactory results. They are 
all business structures, including none of those miser- 
aljle affairs in which show takes the place of utility. 

A IV ell-Made House — -The house is made in sec- 
tions of sixteen-foot length, and in duplication could 
be extended or shortened, as desired, each section being 
suitable for fiocks of ten to twenty-five fowls. The 
house comprises seven of these sixteen-foot sections, 
and by its construction can easily be enlarged or made 
smaller. Each section being precisely alike, the draw- 
ings are made on thfe basis of one section. (See Fig- 
ures 45 to 49 inclusive.) 

The foundation is of cedar posts planted as indi- 
cated by the plans, tops of posts being leveled off to 
receive the frame. The outside lumber is second qual- 
ity white pine ; the inside lumber and framework are 
hemlock. The girder under center of building and 
the sills are four by six inches. Floor joists and roof 
rafters are two by six inches, plates are three by four 
inches, wall studs two by four inches, and partition 
studs two by three inches, all the above of hemlock. 

The house being made in sections of sixteen feet, 
it will be necessary to cut the sills, plates and girders 



HIGH-GRADE PLANTS 



71 



to the length required, and half them together at joints, 
so that a saw could be worked between the floor joists, 
studding and rafters, between each section, and the 
building literally sawed apart at the end of any sec- 
tion, and removed if desired. Where the sixteen-foot 
sections join, the floor joists, wall studs and roof rafters 
are doubled, as indicated on the plans, and in case of 
the removal of any section, all that will be necessary 
to do is to stud up the end left open and enclose it. 
Sills are laid on edge and a one by two-inch furring 
strip nailed to the lower edge of same, on which the 
floor joists are notched and also well spiked to the 





FIG 45 : WELL-MADE HOUSE. FRONT AND REAR 



ELEVATIONS 



sills. Floor joists, wall studs and roof rafters are 
placed on centers as figured on the plans, and all to 
be placed opposite each other. 

The front of the building is sheathed with one by 
nine and one-half-inch matched hemlock sheathing 
boards, laid diagonally with the smooth side in, nailed 
to each bearing. A one by two-inch strip is nailed on 
the lower edge of sill on which to fit the sheathing 
down closely to prevent cold air from running up 
between the cracks. The roof is sheathed with the 
same kind of boards, laid the smooth side down, with 
the joints properly broken on the rafters. The' front 
of the huilding is covered with heavy resin-sized 



72 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



sheathing paper, weU lapped and carefuUy tacked on. 
The roof is covered with gravel roofing, the roofing 
material being confined with an edging strip of one 
by two-inch pine laid fiat on the outer edge of the 
roof. All the outside walls of the building are cov- 
ered with one by six-inch "novelty siding" nailed to 
each bearing, with joints properly broken on bearings. 
The water table is a one by six-inch board with a 
beveled drip on top, having a lip worked on same to 
make the building water-tight. 

The corner boards and the board under the cor- 
nice molding were planted on, after the building was 




FIG 46: WELL-MADE HOUSE. EXD ELEVATION AND 
PEN RUN 



enclosed. The cornice molding is a four-inch crown 
molding worked to a stock pattern and put up as 
indicated on the drawings. The window and door 
openings have no trim, except at each end of the build- 
ing, where the trim was planted on afterward, same 
as the corner boards, etc. At the window and door 
openings, the "novelty siding" is cut on the studs 
three-fourths of an inch, and a half -inch flat bead 
is broken around the openings to cover up the end 
wood, leaving a rebate of three-fourths inch for the 
doors and sash. Doors are hung with iron T hinges. 
The floor is of one by six-inch matched hemlock. 
Windows and doors have beveled sills to match the 



HIGH-GRADE PLANTS 



7Z 



drip on the water-table outside, and extending back 
to the hne of the inside of the frame where they join 
the floor flush. The rear windows are of hotbed sash, 
glazed as shown in the drawings, and attached with 
screw fastenings to permit being removed in summer 
and replaced by wire netting. 




<»> bO)uj^ 



\ %<i.^ >ooy. 



$' 



Ju. 



V^rK 



r I n<J3V^^oxe4 I 



fgkdi >»o'x. j I \<isii. box. 






JIL 



FIG 47: INTERIOR OF WELL-MADE HOUSE 



The outside doors are made of one by six-inch 
matched and center-beaded pine placed vertically and 
battened three times in their hight. The inside doors 
are made of unplaned hemlock, with one by six-inch 
stiles and rails, except bottom rail, which is eight 
inches wide. The panels are covered with wire net- 
ting. The small doors under the hotbed sash and 
between the different sections of the building are each 



74 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 

made of pine board, eleven inches square, battened 
twice on the inside with one by two-inch battens, and 
leaving an opening ten inches square, through which 
the fowls pass in and out. 

The partition along the alleyway, running the 
entire length of the house, is studded up as shown on 
the floor plan and has a six-inch rough hemlock board 
at the bottom and a two by three-inch scantling about 
two inches above the nest boxes, and the balance is 
covered with wire netting, except opposite the pens 




AVfe- 



^^ 



T] 

FIG 48: SECTION THROUGH PEN 



J_L 



I « 



below the nest boxes, where masons' laths are placed 
flat way, about two inches apart, and nailed top and 
bottom to one by two-inch furring strips as shown on 
"section through pen." 

The partitions between the pens and the roosts 
are boarded up two feet high, with one by twelve-inch 
rough hemlock boards, and above are covered with 
wire netting. The partitions back of the roosts are 
boarded up with the same kind of boards to a higlit of 
four feet, leaving a small door opening in center as 



HIGH-GRADE PLANTS 



75 



shown, ten inches square, the upper part covered with 
wire netting inside of the studs, to prevent the fowls 
from escaping when the hotbed sash is removed during 
the warm weather. 

The nest boxes are pine, one-half inch thick, and 
arranged to pull out like a drawer. Each box is 
separate and nailed together in the most inexpensive 
manner. Over the top of the nest boxes place a slant- 
ing hood eighteen inches wide, of rough hemlock 
boards battened on the under side, and put up as shown 
on "section through pen." The feed boxes are located 




FIG 49 : PLAN SHOWING ROOSTS 

ni the alleyway opposite the pens, and are made of 
pme, one inch thick. Each box is separate. 

The roosts are made of one and one-fourth-inch 
spruce and are movable. The ends are four inches 
wide and notched out at top to hook over the scantling 
at the top of the boarded part of the partition back oi 
the roosts. The bottom of the ends of the roosts is cut 
to fit the floor and a hole is bored through the same so 
that the roosts can be pinned to floor with wooden pins 
which can be easily removed and the roosts taken out 
and cleaned. The slats of roosts are two inches wide, 
set on edge and rounded on top with a jack plane and 
well nailed to the ends of the roosts. A spruce slat 



/u POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 

one and one-fourth inches thick and two inches wide is 
placed on edge in front of the nest hoxes and a short 
distance from same, to enahle the fowls to reach the 
nest boxes without jumping directly into the boxes. 
The outside of the building is covered with dark green 
oil stain. 

Business Poultry Plant — The houses built by an 
extensive poultryman, G. H. Pollard of Bristol county, 
^lassachusetts, are simple, substantial and practical, 
and as cheap as a very good house can be made. 

Probably nothing better for the cost can be found. 
The photograph. Figure 50, gives a general idea of the 




FIG 50: BUSINESS POULTRY HOUSE 



outside appearance. The inside is very simple, con- 
sisting of the roosting place and a scratching shed. 
The most striking feature of the inside arrangement is 
the roost, which is built wuth special attention to se- 
curing warmth at night. It is Mr Pollard's idea that 
if a laying hen is kept warm nights, she will not mind 
cold winter weather, but will keep right on laying, 
hence he does not pay much attention to glass windows 
or any other means of producing warmth by day, but 
the scratching shed is left open in pleasant weather and 
protected only by a cloth curtain on stormy days. In 
some of the sidehill houses the roosting house is 
entirely shut off at night and is banked on one side 



HIGH-GRADE PLANTS // 



with earth and protected on the other sides by cement 
walls faced with roofing paper, as is the inside roof 
also. There is only one small window in front. This 
roosting place makes a very tight and warm arrange- 
ment in winter and when the hens leave it they are 
encouraged to keep themselves warm by scratching 
for grain thrown among the litter in the outside pen. 
Apart from the roosting pen, the house is buih as 
cheaply as possible, banked in the rear nearly up to 
the roof and covered on the outside with roofing paper 
coated with tar, which is considered the cheapest and 
most satisfactory roofing material. Mr Pollard sup- 
plies details as follows : 

The largest house is ninety-six by thirteen and 
one-half feet and is divided into six pens thirteen and 
one-half by sixteen feet, which are subdivided into a 
roosting pen six by thirteen and one-half feet and an 
open-front scratching shed ten by thirteen and one- 
half feet. The house is very plainly built and is en- 
tirely devoid of fancy features in fixtures. The frame 
is of two by four spruce, on sills of 1?lirce by four, set 
on chestnut posts. It is eight feet high in front, using 
sixteen-foot boards, hemlock, planed on one side and 
cut in two. The back is five feet four inches, using 
six-foot boards cut in three pieces to save waste and 
boarded up and down. The roof is covered with three- 
ply building felt, tarred, and the front, back and sides 
of the roosting pens are covered with two-ply felt. 
The cracks in the back of the scratching pens are 
battened to stop the drafts, and the front is covered 
with wire netting. A sash of four to six eight by 
twelve lights gives the roosting pen light. 

The perch platform is at the back, and twenty 
inches from the floor, which is of gravel filled in some 
six. inches higher than the outside level. There are 



78 POULTRY ARCHITECTUPE 

no Other lurnlshings, save a few nests made of soap or 
spice boxes, which cost three cents each. 

In the scratching sheds are small boxes of oyster 
shell and the water dishes. The floor is covered with 
meadow hay or straw and the hens scratch in this for 
the hard grain. The soft food is fed in troughs and is 
made up of variations of bran, meal, linseed meal and 
beef scrap. 

A house of this kind may be built by anyone a 
little handy with tools, and covers all the necessary 
features for the comfort and care of the hens. The 
doors open from the scratching sheds to the roosting 
rooms, and from one roosting room to the other. 
There is a scratching shed on each end of house and 
the roosting rooms adjoin each other, thus taking them 
away from the outside ends and gaining all the warmth 
possible from position. Of course this house could 
be extended to any length desired. The runs are on 
the back side of the house, as in winter the scratching 
shed furnishes open-air exercise, and in summer they 
get some shelter from the hot sun and warm south 
winds by living on the back side of the house. 

Another advantage gained comes from the possi- 
bility of walking along in front of the building and 
throwing the whole grains through the netting into the 
scratching sheds without the trouble of opening and 
shutting gates or doors. In this way a house of two 
hundred feet could be fed a dry feed in five to twenty 
minutes and the work well done. 

A Model Poultry House — The building, shown in 
Figures 51 to 54 inclusive, is set on posts three feet 
above the ground, so the chickens can congregate 
underneath the main floor, giving to each section a 
ground floor twelve by sixteen feet. This double 
house is intended for fifty chickens, twenty-five in each 
section. The nests and feed boxes are accessible 




FIG 51 : FRONT ELEVATION OF MODEL HOISE 

t-0 '•■ '>' . g'zO' 




FIG 52: GROUND PLAN OF MODEf. HOUSE 




1 

1 

1 




1 
1 
1 





FIG 53 : SIDE VIEW AND FLOOR SYSTEM 




y Ij Li 



stL"^>>o-*;'d 



Li U 

FIG 54: CROSS SECTION OF MODEL HOUSE 



8o rULLTRV AKCliiTJXTLKE 

from the hallwa}% and the droppin^e^s from the perches 
are easily removed at the rear of the huildin^. The 
cost of this .building, finished in a workmanlike man- 
ner, is less than fifty dollars, including- the purchase of 
the materials required. The bill of materials for a 
poultry house twelve by sixteen feet is as follows : 

Inches Feet Feet 

Hemlock, 30 pieces 3-^4 16 480 

8 pieces 3x 4 12 96 

3 pieces 3x 8 12 75 

8 pieces 2x 4 12 64 

4 pieces 2x 4 16 44 

boards 1x12 16 800 

stripping 1x3 16 80 

stripping 1x2 16 160 

Total 1796 

Siding, flooring and dressed boards 210 

Roofing, three-ply felt (square feet) 275 

Wire netting 350 

Netting, staples, hinges, etc 20 lbs 

Nails, assorted sizes 25 " 

10 locust posts, 6x6 feet 6 inches long 

The house built had partly second-hand material 
and so cost not more than twenty-five dollars. The 
front elevation (Figure 51) shows the house with the 
yard on each side, while the ground plan (Figure 52) 
shows the general interior arrangement. 

A Practical Poultry Home — The building shown 
in the illustration (Figure 55) is on one of the farms 
owned by Mr T. S. Long of Lebanon county, Pennsyl- 
vania. The first two houses are twelve by fourteen 
feet, one of which is used for laying hens. In the 
middle is a feed box where the hens are fed. The other 
house is a roosting place and is cleaned every three or 
four days. After cleaning, the roosts are sprinkled 
witii lime or coal ashes. The long, low shed is sixty- 
six feet long by twelve feet wide. During winter, the 
floor is covered deep with straw^ and chafif. Grain is 
thrown on this, and the hens are compelled to work 
to get out their feed. 



CHAPTER Vn 



ADDITIONS AND EXTRAS 



Poultry could often be kept in the second story of 
a building if access to the ground could be secured. 
The cut (Figure 56) shows an easy grade up to an 
elevated door. The top and bottom boards are shown 
in place, but the entire front should be covered with 
slats. These can extend from the top board down to 




FIG 56: RUNWAY TO SECOND STORY AND UPPER ROOM 



the bottom board. The grade is so easy that fowls will 
readify pass up or down. By this plan a building can 
often be made to hold two flocks instead of one. 

In a barn or stable loft one can fit up a warm and 
sunny room for early chicks, as shown at right of Fig- 
ure 56. Low windows are put in under the eaves, and 
light studding is set up as suggested, being nailed to 
the rafters for the roof of the chicken room. Simply 
lay boards in place for the top, and fill in the space 
above wnth hay. Board up in front, leaving openings 
for doors. Cover the floor with chafif, and put the hens 



ADDITIONS AND EXTRAS 



83 



and their chicks in here during February and March, 
and April, too, in the case of some states. The broods 
will do much better here than on the cold, wet ground. 

Adding a Scratching Pen — The cut (Figure 57) 
shows the ordinary farm poultry house, to which an 
addition has been made in the form of a scratching 
shed, for use not only in the winter season, but also 
during rain storms at other times of year. 

Such an open shed is also most convenient as a 
roosting place for growing chickens during the sum- 




FIG 57: HOUSE WITH SCRATCHING SHED 



mer. The front can have a frame, covered with cotton 
cloth, fitted to the opening and hinged at the top, to 
be let down at night in summer if desired, and on 
stormy days in winter, when snow would be likely to 
blow in if the front of the shed were left open. The 
cost of a shed built in this way is very small, as no floor 
is laid. 

Poultry House Additions — The cut at the right of 
Figure 58 shows a way to utilize buildings already 
existing when constructing a poultry house. A hay 
barn or other structure having a long side toward the 



84 



PO U LTR V ARC II ITECT URE 



south can be used as in the case shown here^ where the 
high side of the pouUry house has its boarding and 
framing ah-eady furnished free of cost. There is 
another great advantage in building poultry houses in 
this way ; the added warmth that is thus secured. In 
cold regions this is a matter of great importance, mak- 
ing this plan exceedingly useful. 

The open summer shed shown in Figure 58 at the 
left was recently seen in operation, and answering its 
purpose admirably. A "shed roof" was placed upon a 
corner of a board fence, the open side being toward 
the south. Here was protection for the fowls and cool 
quarters for the summer. A wire fence met the two 




FIG 58: SHELTER AND LEAN-TO 



sides of the board fence, making house and yard all 
in one inclosure. Extra summer colonies can thus 
easily and cheaply be kept. 

It is quite common to appropriate the sunn\' side of 
the barn, building out toward the south and eastward, 
for an aspect, which requires only a pitched roof and 
low front, with the ends well boarded and seam- 
battened, to render the inclosure quite comfortable, 
stormproof, and sufficiently spacious for winter uses. 
In summer this can be used for laying and roosting pur- 
l)oses. If kept clean and free from vermin, it answers 
very well, costs but a trifle, and may be of any size that 
the barn side will afford for the back of it. Ilierc 
should be a few sashes inserted in front or at the ends, 



ADDITIONS AND EXTRAS 



85 



where the sun can shine in, and this wiU make an eco- 
nomical house, as weh as a useful one, in many cases. 

Preparing House for Winter — Many farmers can- 
not afford to build a suitable house. There is the mate- 
rial about almost any farm for making the most open 
house one of the warmest. There is no expense 
attached to it except the labor. 

At each corner of the house (Figure 59) and about 
two feet out, set a post that will extend well above the 
eaves. If the coop is large enough to make it necessary, 




FIG 59: PROTECTED COOP 



Other posts of a uniform hight and at the same distance 
from the walls of the coop can be set in the ground. 
The posts should not be more than from six to eight 
feet apart. Then about six inches from the ground 
staple a smooth wire to the posts, and another about 
two feet above, and so on to the top of the posts, requir- 
ing five or six wires. Then fill in between the posts and 
wires and the coop with hay or straw. Small poles or 
pieces of waste boards can be woven in the wires to 
keep the hay in place. When the eaves are reached, 
some material that will lead off the water should be put 



86 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



on top. Long slough grass has been found good 
for this. 

By setting a post each side of the door frame, and 
one to correspond with each in a Hne with the outside 
posts, and boarding up each side and fixing the top to 
be covered with hay, the door of the coop will be 
guarded from the cold. Of course an outside door of 
some sort will be necessary. The windows can be pro- 
vided for in the same way or a box of some rough 






'1 




FIG 60: RUN OF SASH AND STRAW 



lumber be made and set in as the banking up is 
being done. 

Aside from a place reasonably warm to roost in, 
chickens, to do well, should have a warm, sunny place 
in which to exercise on warm days. Such a place can 
be made each side the coop in the shape of a lean-to 
facing the south. Set a line of posts the length desired 
to make the lean-to, and spike two by fours across the 
top, from one post to another, six to eight feet from the 



ADDITIUXS AXD EXTRAS 



87 



ground. Then cut the poles of a length to make the 
desired pitch to the roof and lay one end over the two 
by fours (it is well to notch the under sides so there 
will be no danger of slipping), letting the other end rest 
on the ground. Lay fine-limbed brush across these, and 
upon this put the hay or straw covering. In. this place 
can be put up nests and a dust box fixed and filled for 
them to w^allow in. The chickens, too, can be fed here. 
Cheap Winter Run — Figure 60 shows an easy way 
to make a sunny winter run for poultry at little expense, 
either of money, time or labor. Some old window sash 
is set up for the front, and the top is covered with straw 




FIG 61 : PROTECTED SCRATCHING SHEDS 



or corn stalks. Make the top strong enough to hold the 
weight of the snow that may fall upon it. If there is no 
tight board fence at hand, the back can be boarded 
roughly and then banked right up to and over the top 
with straw or other material. 

Protected Scratching Sheds — The idea of an open 
scratching shed for poultry has come to stay. Con- 
tinuous poultry houses, with shed roofs, are now built 
with two open scratching sheds side by side, then two 
pens, then two open sheds, and so on. A section show- 
ing tw^o sheds, one each for the ptrns on either side, is 



SS rOLLTKY ARCHITECTURE 

given in Figure 6i. The special point brought out 
here is the cotton cloth screen, or door, that closes the 
front of each shed in stormy, very cold or blustering 
weather. They are hinged at the top and are turned up 
to the ceiling when the weather is suitable. Drifting 
snows are kept out by putting down the screens, while 
the outside air can come in and the light also. An open 
shed in a snowy latitude without such a protection is 
almost useless during the greater part of the winter, 
unless one keeps shoveling snow. 



CHAPTER VIII 

FOR INCUBATORS AND BROODERS 

The buildings of a large establishment for artificial 
hatching and rearing should be arranged with especial 
reference to convenience. A few steps saved by a care- 



BREEDtNG HOUSE 

KILLING HOUSE. 



\ RESIDENCE, 



G/fOmHS HOUSE, 



fltD HOUSE. 




BROODER HOUSE. 



INCUBATOR CELLAR. 



FIG 62: PLAN OF DUCK OR BROODER BUILDINGS 



ful plan of building with due reference to location, be- 
comes an important factor of success when applied to 
the numberless daily errands to and fro. Buildings to 



90 



rO U LTR V ARC II ITECT L' Rli 



be often visited, the incubator room, for instance, 
should be near the dweUing. All the buildings should 
be so arranged that the attendant can do the routine 
work by a systematic plan, wiih no waste of time or 
effort. The illustration ( Figure 62 ) shows the actual 
arrangement of a large plant to which allusion is made 
in Bulletin 64 of the United States Department of Agri- 
culture. Its convenience and compactness are seen at 
a glance. 

Iiupvoi'cd Incubator House — Figure 63 shows a 
plan for obviating the inconvenience of rising tem- 
perature in the incubator house when the sun is shin- 




FIG 63 



DOUBLE ROOF INCUBATOR HOUSE 



ing, especially late in the spring or in the summer. 
Then it is difficult to keep a uniform heat in the ma- 
chines, as the house becomes overheated from the effect 
of the sun upon the roof. A simple way out of the 
difficulty is to put on an additional roof, leaving an air 
space between the two. The inner roof can be covered 
with cheap boar.ds and roofing paper, with lath battens. 
The outer may have shingles over a layer of building 
paper. 

Banked Incubator Room — In Figure 64 is shown 
an incubator room that is built on the surface of the 



FOR IXCir.AroRS AND I'-ROODHRS 



9- 



ground, and yet is surrounded 1)y earlh, banked up 
against its stone walls. It is banked on three sides, 
leaving one side unl^anked for entrance door and a 
window. The incubator room need not be large, so the 
labor of banking it in this way will not be great. Many 
are not able to secure a suitable place underground for 
a cellar, and for such the above plan will prove advan- 
tageous. 

A Successful Incubator House, illustrated in Fig- 
ure 65, is in use by an extensive woman poultry farmer, 
Mrs J. Fairbank, Oregon. It is a combination incu- 
bator cellar, water tank and windmill tower. The two- 




liAXKED INCUBATOR ROOM 



storv building is fourteen by sixteen feet, with a one 
thousand-chick capacity hatching cellar, a tank in the 
second story which holds the water supply for the 
whole farm, and a windmill on the roof to perform all 
the pumping. 

A double brooder house is shown in Figure 66, 
with walk in the center and pens on either side, and 
with heater at the end. j\Iany prefer this plan to the 
single brooder house, as the care and attention required 
for the youngsters is much less and the cost of heating 
is reduced, one heater being sufficient for both lines of 
pipes. Then, again, this latter plan shortens the length 



92 



rO U LTR Y ARC li ITFXT U RE 



of the building 1)y one-half and makes the work more 
concentrated. 

Combined Brooder and Groiving House — FiT^ure 
67 shows a successful plan for a combination building. 
The rows of brooder pens are at the right, while the 
large pens and yards are at the left. In a duck plant 
the right half of the buildings is used for the ducklings 




FIG 65 : IxXCUBATOR HGUSE AND TANK 



as soon as they are old enough to endure a lower tem- 
perature than that of the brooders. In a broiler plant, 
the use of the buildings may be similar, or the large 
pens may be used for laying stock. 

The heater and feed room are between the two 
parts of the building, the heater being in a pit beneath 
the feed room. Pipes run into both parts of the build- 



FOR INCUBATORS AND BROODERS 



93 



ing, as shown by the dotted Hues. The pipes in the 
right half of the building are raised two or three feet 
from the floor, and a lower temperature is maintained 
as compared with the brooders. 

The brooder box (Figr.re 68) is next to the pas- 
sageway, or walk, on each side, and runs the entire 
length of the building. This box is thirty inches wide 
and eight inches high ; the sides are seven inches high 
and nailed securely ; the top of the cover is nailed across 
with cleats to make it substantial, awd the cover has an 




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3 


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VZ7 Plan 





FIG 66 : DOUBLE BROODER HOUSE 



inch strip nailed underneath in front and back to keep it 
in position. These strips rest against the seven-inch 
sides and make the brooder snug and tight when closed. 
The heating pipes are directly beneath the cover and are 
two-inch pipes, flow and return. Some prefer one-inch 
pipes, using two flows and two returns. When three 
pipes are used they should be about eight inches apart 
from center to center. These pip.es rest on the partition 
boards of the pens. The front of the brooder, leading 
into the pens, is cut out in the center about four inches 



94 



i'C) U LTR Y ARC 11 ITECT L' RE 



deep and four feet long, while the ends and the other 
side are solid, heing seven inches high. The construc- 
tion of the brooder is clearl\ shown in b with cover 
removed, while c shows cover. The heater is located at 
the end of building. 

A pipe brooder house, well liked at one of the 
eastern experiment stations, is shown in the combina- 
tion drawing (Figure 69), in which dimensions and 
interior construction are indicated. The hot water sys- 
tem is used, but the small lamp brooders may be used 



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£ 


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FIG 67; COMBINATION BROODER Bl'lLDING 



if preferred. The heating pipes extend the length of 
the building under the covers, b b b. Through exit, c, 
the chicks reach a twenty-foot run inclosed with two- 
foot board and netting above. One of these houses will 
accommodate about five hundred chicks while small. 

Houses for Single Brooders — These little build- 
ings, described by C. E. Matteson of Wisconsin, are 
scattered over his place one hundred and fifty feet 
apart, so that one colony will not interfere with the 
other at feeding time, and each flock will go to its ow^n 
house at night. (See building at left of Figure 70.) 




Fit;. 68 : construction of broodfr box 



96 



I'U U LTR Y ARC H ITECT U RE 



The dimensions are six by six feet, with shed roof 
five feet high at front or south side and three feet high 
on north. Sills are two by six, and the house is 
studded with two by four, two feet on center, and sided 
with six-inch drop siding. 

The front has a window nine by twelve feet, set 
eight inches above the sill, so as to leave place for the 
chicks to get to the yard, and the window should be 
arranged to slide wide open, making a kind of shed of 
it when weather is warm. The door is two and one- 
half by four feet, placed on east side so you can enter 




FIG 69: PIPE BROODER HOUSE 

the building without first climbing into the yard. The 
roof is of dressed and matched fencing, then shingled, 
making it almost windproof. The interior shows a 
brooder, a, set therein. These brooders are hot air, 
thirty-six inches square, sunk in the ground floor of 
these houses about four inches. The dirt that is taken 
for the excavation is filled in around the brooder, which 
gives the chicks a nice earth floor to scratch and ruftle in 
when the weather will not let them go out. As they 
grow older, say when four weeks old, they are given 
full liberty in pleasant weather. 



R)R INCUBATORS AND BROUOKKS 



97 



Figure 70, at the right hand, shows a house buih 
against a bank, that can be twelve feet or more in 
length. The cross section below shows how^ the home- 
made brooder is located with respect to the run for 
the chicks. Set on legs as it is, the attendant does not 
have to stoop over his work, and with the raised run 
for the chicks they are brought on a level with 
the brooder, so they can easily run in and out. 

This run is coated with gravel and cemented. The 
brooder is three feet square. Allow six feet for each 





FIG 70: HOUSES FOR SEPARATE BROODERS 



brooder and pen and you have three feet at the end of 
each brooder — sufficient space to give access to each 
pen, which can be cleaned from the walk with a short- 
handled hoe or rake. The house is twelve feet wide, 
the walk or alley six and the .run six. The top of the 
brooder is hinged, to give easy access, and the partition 
in front of the runs is tight, to keep in the warmth that 
is produced by the sunshine coming in at the window. 
If a bank of earth is not at hand, earth can be heaped 
up to form a bench on which to locate the runs. Such 



98 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



a bank of earth makes the interior of the building much 
warmer. 

Both these houses are adapted for the lamp and 
drum style brooder shown in the diagram at the left. 
Later in the season may be substituted the cold brooder 
shown at the upper left hand corner of Figure 70. 
Woolen cloth, an old blanket or some sort of heavy 
material, is tacked loosely at the sides and in a few 




URECOX r.ROOUlLR HOUSE 



places through the center, in such a way that tlie loose 
folds will hang down nearly to the bottom of the 
brooder. This cloth should be of several thicknesses, 
or padded if need be. It should hang lower near the 
sides than at the center. It should also be constructed 
in such a way that it can be raised as the chicks grow 
in size. This can be done easily. The cloth can be 
fastened to a frame made of inch boards and of a size 



FUR IXCLliATURS AND BROODERS 99 

that will just lit snugly inside the brooder. At each 
corner of the box put in pieces of two by four 
studding, a, eight inches high, in which holes have been 
bored an inch apart from the top to within four inches 
of the bottom. Saw out the corners of the frame to 
fit around these and insert a pin, c, in the hole that will 
hold it at the desired bight. A strip, b, nailed to the 
end pieces of the frame and reaching through the mid- 
dle, will serve as a fastening to tack the cloth to in 
the center. 

Brooder House — A building as shown in Figure 
71 has been found satisfactory by an Oregon grower. 
The floors of the warm hovers are covered two inches 
deep w^ith sand. They are warmed with two one and 





FIG 72: HOUSES FOR WINTER CHICKS 

one-half-inch pipes, a a, overhead. The hovers are 
thirty inches wide, four feet long, one foot deep, ar- 
ranged in tw^o rows running lengthwise with a walk, b, 
between. Through a small opening chicks enter a four 
by four-foot runw^ay, e e, and may thence pass outdoors 
to runways four feet wide and thirty feet long. 

A Brooder Attachment — In early spring the 
brooder chicks can be let out upon the ground and yet 
be protected from the cold winds by the attachment 
shown at the left of Figure y2. A box without top or 
bottom is hooked to the side of the brooder, an opening 
being cut in the side wdiere the door of the brooder 
comes. The top of the attachment is covered w^ith 
coarse cotton cloth, or a sash mav be used. The cloth 



l.nfC 



100 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 

lets in fresh air and the sun's rays, but protects the 
chicks from the cold winds. 

Poultry House for Early Chicks — This house, as 
in Figure ^2, at the right of the illustration, is used by 
Mrs J. Wilson of Iowa for raising winter chicks. In 
it she can put three hens with about forty chicks. Take 
a box about six feet long, two and one-half feet wide, 
two and one-half feet high in front, with sloping roof, 
cover with tarred paper and have a sliding window in 
front near the top, as shown. Dig a hole in the ground 
just the size of the box, as for a hotbed. Fill it with 
horse manure, cover w^ith dry earth and over this put 
soft straw, chaff and hayseed from the barn floor. 
Place the box over this and put the hens and chicks 
in. Throw an old carpet over all and they are easily 
cared for. In a home like this it is surprising how fast 
they will grow. A small door near the bottom may be 
opened on warm days to let them have a little sun, but 
they will soon scamper back. 



CHAPTER IX 

SPECIAL PURPOSE BUILDINGS 

Cold Storage of Poultry Products — The only 
really satisfactory means for keeping eggs and poultry 
meat is cold storage. The system is working a revolu- 
tion in the trade ; tending to equalize prices and increase 
demand. In course of time the difference between 
spring and winter prices will no doubt be far less than 
at present. Meanwhile there is a good profit in holding 



1 II II II II II 11- -I 


- 


a ICE ROOM 


= 


II II II 1 





i \}m^\ mm,\ mm mm im^i mm ^^an \^^M MM fe^MS^ 




FIG y^ : PLAN OF COLD STORAGE HOUSE FOR POULTRY 



Stored eggs. A commission man and buyer lately re- 
marked that farmers could secure this profit themselves 
by putting up little storage plants on the plan of co- 
operative creameries, and selling the product at the 
right season to retail customers. He expressed the 
opinion that a town of one thousand or more people 
would furnish ample scope for such an enterprise and 



I02 I'OLLTRV ARCHITECTURE 

the plant could be used a part of the time for stora^c^e of 
fruit. The design given herewith (Figure 73 j is for 
storage with ice, is not expensive, and has been success- 
fully used by a Michigan poultry farmer. 

The ice room is eight by twelve feet in the clear, 
being started with a six 1)y six-inch sill laid in a trench 
three inches deep. After the sills are laid in the ground 
dirt is pressed in solidly, so as to leave no opportunity 
for air to enter in at the bottom — a very important 
point. The studding of the inner room is tw^o by eight- 
inch lumber, twelve feet long, set twenty-four inches 
from center to center, and having a plate of the same 
size firmly spiked to the top, the inside of the studs 
being sheathed with rough boards clear to the top of 
the plate and around the bottom except at a, where one 
stud has been left out, leaving an opening through, 
which the ice is passed in filling the house. This open- 
ing is stopped with boards and simply laid in as the 
house is filled. The top of the ice should be no higher 
than the plate, and be covered twelve or eighteen inches 
deep with hay or straw, well trodden down. 



The outer wall is of two bv four-inch studdin 



}-.> 



twelve feet long, the sill set in the ground the same as 
for the inner room, but carefully sheathed on both sides 
with good, tight boards, and the space between filled 
w^ith sawdust clear to the plate. The outside is finished 
with drop siding, having a thickness of paper between 
that and the boards. 

At B the inner and outer sheathing boards project 
one and one-half inches beyond the studs, and other 
loose boards are cut one and one-half inches shorter 
than the space between the studs. 

Then, as the ice is fitted in, these shorter boards 
are laid up and the space between filled with sawdust, 
this opening being only to fill the ice room. About 
thirty-five tons of ice can be put in this house, which 



SPECIAL PURPOSE BUILDINGS IO3 

will be sufficient to last until cutting time another year. 

The entrance door is made double ; that is, a sort 
of vestibule is built out so that the door can be closed 
behind when going in or coming out, thus avoiding 
warm currents of air in the cooling room. The four- 
foot space around the house is floored over six inches 
above the ground sill, and provides ample room for 
butter, meat, poultry or eggs, though eggs must not 
be kept at a lower temperature than forty degrees 
above zero. 

If desired, another story may be added by placing 
joists across the space eight feet from the lower floor. 
This gives a larger amount of room for storing onions, 
etc. The roof is hipped and provided with a ventilator 
having lower slats arranged to open or close at will. 
They should never be tightly closed, as fresh air should 
always have more or less access to the top of the ice. 

A six by six-inch timber is fastened at one end 
under the hip rafter, projecting over the outer wall line 
and provided with a stout eye-bolt to which the pulley 
is caught in filling the ice room. This timber is braced 
down to the plate with sticks of the same size. 

The roof is shingled, and the cornice is made with 
eight eight by eight-inch holes in the soffit, each being 
provided with a board to close and open, thus perfect- 
ing the ventilating arrangement. Windows are in both 
sides, tightly fitted with two double sash for each eight, 
and are set in the sides, so as to throw light in the end 
passages. A box drain should be laid in the ground, 
made of two by eight-inch stuff, and should project 
three or four feet beyond the outside wall, and at each 
end a small pit should be dug, filled nearly to the top 
with small stone, with an armful of straw next, and dirt 
filled in, well rammed down. No flooring will be re- 
quired in the inner room, as the ice can be laid on the 
ground. 



104 



PO U LT R Y A RCll 1 T EC T U RE 



An Ontario Turkey House — My turkeys have a 
large range, and as foxes are numerous in this vicinity 
a great many of the finest birds were killed last year. 
Injune I had a house built like the accompanying illus- 
tration (Figure 74, at the upper half of the illustration) 




J» 







e*r*4^ 



^^ 



FIG 74: BUILDINGS FOR Tl'RKEVS 



to secure the flock at night, to provide a feeding place 
for the young birds during the day and to prevent the 
old birds from eating with them. 

The building is twelve feet square, ten feet high in 
front and eight feet at the back. The foundation con- 



SPECIAL PURPOSE BUILDINGS I05 

sists of tamarack planks spiked solidly together and 
four posts are set in at the corners. The sides are of 
fine slats, four inches wide, nailed an inch apart so as 
to provide light and air within. The roof is made of 
boards put on to exclude the rain. On one side is a 
door, a, six by three feet, fastened by hooks on the 
outside and inside. On the front there is an opening, 
b, and a door, c. On the ground the opening, h, is 
four inches high and five feet long and permits the 
ingress and egress of the young birds only. This is 
closed by means of a drop board. The hanging door, c, 
is twelve feet long, two feet wide and two feet from the 
ground, is formed of boards like the sides, is fastened 
by hooks and is attached to the front by strong hinges. 
Inside the house are drinking and feeding troughs for 
the young birds, clean straw at one side and three tiers 
of roosts, the first very low, the second midway and 
the third of strong poles as near the top as possible. 

In the morning I dropped the hanging door to let 
out the old birds, fed them outside, and closed the 
door. Went in at the side door, fastened it, fed and 
watered the young birds and left them until the dew 
was off the grass. By raising the board the young 
ones could come out to the old ones. Three times a 
day they came to be fed, the board being utilized to 
shut them in until all were fed. At night the young 
ones remained in and by dropping the hanging door 
the old hens fiew in. When the turkeys grew too large 
for the opening, h, I fed them just outside the house 
and they entered by means of both doors, which were 
fastened before dark. — [Mrs Edwin • Colquhoun. 
Ontario. 

Another Turkey House — Most people who have 
had experience with turkeys know that these birds 
prefer to roost on the ridgepole of a building rather 
than under it, and that, too, in exceptionally cold 



I06 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 

weather. The turkey does not hke close quarters, and 
thrives best where it is given plenty of air. 

In many sections of the country where the winters 
are not too severe, the house shown in Figure 74, at the 
lower part of the illustration, will be found an excel- 
lent one for turkeys in winter, while in the northern 
regions, even, such a building will be found most 
useful as a roosting place for both chickens and poults 
during the late summer and fall, since they need pro- 
tection from rain and prowling animals, but plenty 
of pure air to secure the finest growth. This need of 
pure air at night is not properly appreciated by most 
persons who attempt to raise chickens. 

Improved Duck Houses — Ducks are easily the 
most profitable of all poultry, if the flesh product 
simply is considered, while as a layer of eggs the Pekin 
duck is exceedingly profitable. There can be no doubt 
that it would be wise for more farmers to keep a flock 
of breeding and laying ducks, and for this purpose 
there is no better breed than the large, white Pekin. 

As ducks roost on the floor, only low quarters are 
needed. A low, shed-roofed affair can be put onto the 
side of the barn or other farm building, in the manner 
shown in Figure 75, three feet of hight being sufficient. 
Let the pen open into the large building, the partition 
between being hinged at the top, so that by raising 
it one can clean out the pen and put in dry bedding. 
One can thus build duck quarters very inexpensively. 

Figure 76 shows a duckhouse with shed and an 
inclosed roost room. It is single walled and built in 
the cheapest manner. 

lu Building a Dove Cote in a barn for six pairs, 
they should have at least twelve feet square of floor 
and eight feet high. The more space the better, unless 
the pigeons are to have the freedom of the yard. The 
boxes should be at least eight in number, each box to 



bi'EClAL rURPOSE BUILDINGS 



107 



be double, completely divided so a young pigeon cannot 
go from one to the other without flying. This allows 
the mother to lay and hatch a second set of eggs before 
the first are able to look after themselves. These 
boxes must be set on the top of tinned posts or fixed 
in some wav so that the rats cannot reach the nests, 




FIG 75: l.MPROVEn DlCKIIOUSl-: 




FIG 76: DUCK HOUSE AND SHED 



for rats are sure to destroy the eggs or young birds 
in the nest. — [A. H. Streeter, Hampshire County, 
Massachusetts. 

Making a Pigeon Loft — Every boy on the farm 
should have a flock of pigeons, be the variety Fan- 
tails, Homers, Turbits or Jacobins. They are among 
the most satisfactory pets that one can have, their pretty 



io8 



IHJLLTRV AKCIUTKCTLRE 



ways and beautiful forms and plumage making them 
most desirable companions. A loft for the accom- 
modation of pigeons can be made very easily in the 
roof chamber of a shed or stable. The illustrations 
(Figure yy) show inside and outside arrangement for 
such a loft. With most pigeons there must be a wire 
inclosure outside the window, else cats will make havoc 
with the birds, many varieties not being very quick 
upon the wing. A part of the inside partition is cut 
away in the illustration to show the interior arrange- 




'//n\T 



FIG yy : PIGEON LOFT AND INTERIOR 



ment. Such a loft utilizes waste space and requires no 
great expense for lumber. A boy should be able to fit 
it up himself. 

Combined Poultry and Pigeon House — A poultry 
house with a loft especially fitted up for the accommo- 
dation of pigeons is shown in the accompanying illus- 
trations (Figures 78, 79), from sketches by Webb 
Donnell. The poultry quarters have an addition fitted 
with wire netting in front in summer, as seen in Figure 

78, and windows in winter, which serves as a scratch- 
ing and dusting room, communication being had with 
it from the main poultry room. The diagram, Figure 

79, shows the inside arrangement when the building is 
used for two breeds. Such an arrangement secures 
exceedingly warm roosting places for both flocks, as 



si'i-xiAL I'l'Ki'osi': r.ni.Dixc.s 



109 



the recesses occupied ])\ the rousts can be shut olf from 
the main room to some extent by placing- partitions in 
front of the roosts, extending- from the ceihrig, but not 




FIG 78 : HOUSE FOR POULTRY AND PIGEONS 




FIG 79 : GROUND PLAN FOR COMBINATION HOUSE 

reaching to the floor. The warm air from the bodies 
of the fowls is thus kept around and above the birds 
while on their roosts. 



CHAPTER X 

COOPS, YARDS AND FENCES 

Compared with the houses, the coops are small 
and temporary affairs, bein^ used often only a few 
months of the year. Present use rather than appear- 
ance or durability is usually considered. In some cases 
the coop item is so far overlooked that it becomes the 
weak feature of the plant, and serious losses occur 
from overcrowding- the young stock or failing to pro- 




FIG 80 : GLASS-ROOFED COOPS 



tect them against pests ; neglecting- to separate fowls 
ill ■ with contagious diseases ; lack of accommodations 
for sitters, fattening fowls, extra males or show birds. 
There is little excuse for such conditions ; materials 
good for coops being plenty and cheap, while on 
account of the limited size of such structures they may 
be nailed together any time in the workshop or shed. 



COUPS, YARDS AND FENCES 



III 



A Coop for Early Chicks— The two upper draw- 
ings of Figure 80 show a desirable coop for very early 
chickens. The coop is long and sloping and has a hot- 
bed sash hinged to the top. The higher half of the 
coop has a tight bottom with slats at its outer edge. 
There is no bottom to the rest of the coop, and the 
lower end has a hinged door, and is also covered with 
one-inch mesh of wire netting. 

When very cold the door can be shut up tight and 




FIG 81 : HOTBED RUN AND COOPS 



the chicks will have a warm run on the ground outside 
the slats. When it is warmer, the end door can be 
dropped, giving a protected run, but plenty q£^ fresh 
air. The hen can be let out into this run when desired. 
A cloth can be thrown over the glass at night when 
the weather is cold. 

The drawing in the lower right-hand corner of 
Fis-ure 80 shows a house with glass run for winter 
chicks. 



.112 



rOLLTRV ARCHITECTLRE 



The lower left-hand drawing" in Figure 80 shows 
a hotbed that is built against the south side of the 
poultry house, serving all through the winter as a 
sunny scratching place for the fowds. These are shut 
out at the approach of spring and the hotbed started. 
About the time the plants are started the fowls will be 
getting out upon the ground, wdiile all through the deep 
snows of wdnter they will have an exceedingly sunny 
space to run in. Make the hotbed large enough to give 
sufficient scratching space. The room can well be 
utilized wdth early plants in the spring. 




FIG 82: RAT-PROOF COOPS AND RUN 



Figure 81 shows another coop on the hotbed plan. 
Several brood hens are kept in boxes or A coops con- 
necting with the sashed runs, and the chickens may run 
together if desired, although it is better to have them 
divided at first till they become used to brooding in 
flocks of even number. 

Rat-Proof Coops and Run — The first has a pro- 
jecting top, as shown in the upper left of Figure 82, 
to keep out the heat of the sun and the rain. It has a 
netting front to give good ventilation, wdiile keeping 



COOPS, VARUS AND Fl'.xXCKS II3 

out enemies at night. It has a small b(jard below that 
can be removed durmg the day so the chicks can run 
out and in, while the hen wdl be confined. The coop 
can be cleaned in an instant. All these advantages will 
commend this coop to those who have had experience 
with the coops ordinarily seen. 

Cool Run for Chicks — They appreciate a bit of 
shade during midday and should not be forced to find 
it in the coop, which too often is almost air-tight. Cut 
a hoop in two equal lengths and to a, ^ and c, as at the 
right of the drawing previously described in Figure 
82, each tack either end of three pieces of lath or other 
light wood. Over this framework stretch cotton cloth, 
d, or bagging, and tack firmly in pace. The open ends 
admit a free current of air, while the cover keeps off 
direct sun rays. 

The illustration at the lower left of Figure 82 
gives an idea for the construction of a neat, handy 
and healthy coop. It can be made of any size. For one 
or two broods of chickens, about four feet square and 
two feet high in front and eighteen inches high in the 
rear is a convenient size. It should be made with a 
tight floor to prevent the entrance of rats, skunks, etc, 
and also to aid in keeping clean. The entrance should 
have two doors, one of them merely a frame over 
which is stretched wire netting with meshes fine 
enough to exclude all prowlers of the night. This is 
to be used in the summer time when it is too hot to 
shut the coops with the tight doors. The other door 
can be made to shut over the wire door by hinging at 
the top. The wire door is made to slide in from the 
top or end. With the coop tightly closed there will 
not be sufficient ventilation. A ventilator made of 
three or four-inch boards nailed into a box about two 
and one-half feet long, set in the middle of the coop 
roof and extending down inside to within a couple of 



114 rOULTRY ARCHITECTURE 

inches of the bottom, will suffice. At the rear, to aid in 
cleaning, should be a door about eight inches wide 
extending the whole length of the coop at the bottom. 
By lifting this and using a small hoe-like tool, (/, made 
by taking a block four by eight inches and boring a 
hole in the center and putting in a handle about two 
feet long, the job of cleaning is a short and easy one. 
All coops should be painted and the roof made tight 
enough to prevent leaking. These coops are not too 
heavy to be carried to any place where -it is desirable. 
The illustration shows the coop with one door raised, 
showing the wire netting. 

Rat-Proof Coops — The plan. Figure 82, at the 
lower right-hand corner, shows how one is built. The 
lower space in front is protected with a sliding frame, 
covered with eighteen-inch galvanized heavy wire net- 
ting. The dot is a small hole with a large wire nail 
through the frame. The two dots above are holes for 
fastening the screen frame so the chicks can run, and 
confine the hen, or the hen can run, as one wishes. The 
legs are about three inches high, so there is no chance 
for rats to work underneath, and the plan also prevents 
loss by possible drowning in a heavy shower. With 
the frame down at night, cats, rats or others pests are 
kept out. 

Hay Shed Coop — My chicken coops are made be- 
neath a western hay shed, which is built by setting 
posts about ten feet apart, placing stringers on top 
and laying poles across, upon which the hay is stacked. 
The entire shed or corral is inclosed by boarding up 
and down with slabs, and is divided into five sections, 
occupying the space of twenty feet square for each 
coop or pen. All the roosts are in the center coop and 
are made of small green oak poles reaching up to 
within two feet of the roof, which is eight feet from 
the ground. Instead of having a single slant with 



COOPS^ YARDS AND FENCES 



II 



poles nailed on every two feet, I have the roosts in the 
shape of a wide hay rack or double feed stall, slanting 
both ways, with poles every two feet, and some between 
the top perches. In this way I get all the young chicks 
to their perches long before the mothers leave them, 
and give plenty of room for all to roost on the top 
poles. — [J. L. Shoemaker, Utah. 

Ten-Cent Coops — A chicken coop that will last 
for ten years at a cost of ten cents ! The cut ( Figure 
83) explains itself better than w^ords can do. A soap, 
starch or canned fruit box of the right size can 
usually be procured for from five to ten cents (fre- 
quently at the former price if a quantity are engaged). 




FiG 83 : BOX AND BARREL COOl'S 

and this, with a few bits of lath for the door, which is 
hung on leather hinges, and a board for an awning 
completes the requisites. Triangular pieces of board 
must be nailed to the awning, which is also attached 
by leather hinges. When more light or sun is needed 
by the brood, simply turn the shed roof over onto the 
top of the coop. By a little extra work the board can 
be made to serve the purpose of shutting in the 
chickens at night by dispensing wdth wooden supports 
and using iron hooks to keep the shed in place. In 
this case ventilation must be provided. This coop can 
be made in a few minutes and is better than many more 
costly ones. It will be improved by covering the top 
with'building paper, which must be painted each year. 



ii6 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



Another coop just as cheap may be made from a 
barrel sawed in two lengthwise (Figure 83). Before 
sawing nail staves to hoops. A coop from a whole 
barrel slatted in front is shown in Figure 84. Also a 
peach crate used as a coop. 

A cheap coop can be made from an apple barrel 
with the one end covered with lath and a door to 
admit of cleaning and placing feed for the brood and 
the old hen. At night and on wet days a piece of oil- 
cloth can be arrano-ed to shelter the front and be 



';^.^ 





FIG 84 : COOPS FROM BARRELS AND CRATES 



thrown back when not in use. It can be easily re- 
moved from one place to another, admitting of fresh 
surroundings as often as deemed necessary. It is 
raised slightly from the ground by means of blocks on 
either side to avoid the least dampness. The inside 
of the barrel should be covered with fresh straw in a 
moderate quantity. Wire netting in place of lath can 
also be used and is just as good for the front, possibly 
better. The entrance board can be made by cutting the 



COOPS^ YARDS AND FENCES 



117 



front block under the barrel, slanting and placing 

cleats on it, to allow the chicks to get in and out easily. 

A-Shapcd Coops — Several forms of these very 

simple and cheap coops for young chicks are shown in 




FIG 85 : A-SHAPED COOPS 

Figure 85, Beginning at the upper left corner, 
the first coop is made by dividing a good-sized box by 
cutting through two corners, making two coops of one 
box. The roof should be closely battened or covered 
with painted sheathing paper. The coop adjoining to 




FIG 86 : A-SHAPED COOP AND FRAME 

the right has its roof lapped clapboard fashion, and a 
convenient drop door of slats. At the lower left 
corner is a style common in its main features on many 
large establishments. It is cheap, warm, dry, and can 



ii8 



POULTRY ARCHITPXTURE 



easily be made rat-proof. The fourth is good where 
hen and chickens run together. The house part is 
quickly made from an old box, and may be fastened to 
the yard or simply moved close against it. The yard is 
of inch mesh a foot high, but the top may be of two- 
inch mesh. 

Another simple A coop appears in Figure 86. At 
the right of this illustration is shown a frame which 
may be covered with boards or paper and slatted in 
front or protected with netting. 




FIG 87 : COOP FROM A SHOE BOX 



Box Coops — One style is made out of a wide shoe 
box, or case, l)y nailing a board (as shown in Figure 
87) on each end, which shall extend beyond the sides 
and above the top of the box ; and across these is nailed 
another board, forming the roof. The ventilation is 
perfect, when the roof is constructed in this manner, 
while at the same time it proves a complete protection 
against storms. A coop of this sort can be readily 
made with but little trouble and at slight expense. 

In the side not shown in the cut is a door through 
which the hen is admitted or let out, and on the front 
side (see cut) a pane of glass can be inserted, if de- 
sired, to give ample light. 



COUPS, YARDS AND FENCES 



119 



Another plan is shown in Figure 88. Tip a large 
packing box on one side, making the open space or 
original top the front. Nail boards, a, across this 
space half way down, letting the top one, h, extend 
nearly its wudth above the top edge of the box, and 
several inches beyond the ends. Nail a similar one, c, 
on the back, leaving this a couple of inches above the 
top. Two side boards, (/, are now added, sawed slant- 
ing to make a smooth slope between the front and back 
for the roof. As they are six inches beyond the 
ends of the box, it makes a protection from the 




FIG 88 : A PACKING BOX COOP 



weather, besides leaving space for circulation, wdiile 
to make this of value to the interior a square must be 
sawed from the top of the box before the roof is put 
on, as this top floor has been left whole. This makes 
the ventilation good without danger of leaks, and tlie 
roof is now added. 

Returning to the unboarded space in front, we 
nail a strip four inches w^ide down the center and tack 
fine wire netting, f, over one side. A second strip is 
put over the first to cover the edge of the netting, antl 
to leave room for a groove for the sliding door, g, on 



I20 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



the other side. Tliis may be either of wood or a 
skeleton frame made and covered with netting-. A 
g-roove must be made in the box for the other side of 
the shde. Nearly all the boxes come with well-stayed 
corners, so this 'is not difficult. 




FIG 89 



BROOD coop WrriT RUN 



Paint the outside, roof and all, to prevent tlie 
cracks from spreading. Or the roof may l)e covered 
with roofing paper or cheaper still with tarred paper, 
which will last a season or two. These Iroxes vary 
somewhat in size, but they will hold from fifteen to 
twenty-five chickens till the>- are pretty well grown. 




FIG 90 : LIGHT BOX COOPS 



and as they are strong and well built they will last 
many years. 

Brood Coop i^'ilJi Run — ddie coop shown lierewitli 
(Figure 89) is one that is used extensively on the 
Kentucky Stock and Poultry Farm of Brandenburg,, 



COOPS. YARDS AND FENCES 



121 



Kentucky. In it a hen can l)rood twenty to forty 
chicks. It is made of one and one-half-inch mesh wire 
with a board top, and the dimensions are as follows : 
a to b, four feet ; c to a, two feet ; d to e, two feet ; k k 
are doors. 

A Light Coop — The materials (Figure 90) are 
twenty-one spruce laths, two boards, (/, six by twenty- 
five inches, two two by two posts, b, four inches high, 
and a shoe box, c, twenty-five by eighteen by fourteen 
inches. Nail the four' boards to the posts, leaving a 
space at the bottom ; nail nine laths to the front end of 
box and the other end to the end made by nailing the 
boards and posts together. Now nail six laths to each 




FIG 91 : SHELTER AND PORTABLE COOP 



side of the box and to the end. The second half of 
the illustration shows another coop built on a like plan 
with slide between box and yard. 

Suniiiicr and Fall Shelter— Growing chicks can be 
kept in a most vigorous condition by having pure air 
at night. Shut up in close coops they cannot have this. 
Get them to roosting out of doors as early as possible, 
but provide a shelter for the roosts. 

This can be made very cheaply by putting up a 
rough board and stake frame, as shown in Figure 91, 
and covering it with tarred paper, tacking a lath on the 
outside, over each rafter. This will protect the chicks 
from showers in the night, but will not shut out any 
pure air. 



122 



rO U LTRY ARC li ITFXT U RE 



Fowls do well colonized out in small flocks in 
summer. They need little more shelter than a roosting- 
place that is protected from storms and showers. Fig-- 
ure 92 shows an A shelter boarded with matched 
lumber to the ground on one side and end, with nests 
and roosts inside. Put the tight side and end toward 
the direction of storms. Fowls can thus be colonized 
in many flocks on pasture and other rough land, obviat- 
ing the necessity of building many yards, and of 




FIG 92: COLONY SHELTER COO 



furnishing all the feed Fowls on free range will get 
half their living themselves. 

A well-ventilated coop is needed for chickens in 
the fall. They should also have a chance to roost, as 
crowding together in their own droppings is not 
healthful. The coop shown in Figure 91, at the right, 
fulfills both requirements, and is very convenient and 
easily made. The wire netting at the bottom on each 
side is six inches wide, this being the narrowest width 
of the netting that is sold. 



COOPS, VARUS AND FENCES 



123 



An Orchard Chicken Coop — A coop is shown 
herewith (Figure 93) that is made specially for use 
under trees. Its pie-shaped form fits it to be revolved 
about a tree trunk, giving a succession of new strips 
of ground for the chickens to scratch in, and an equal 
fertilizing of the soil all about the tree. 

To Fatten Quickly — For a few fowls a simple 
portable coop may be used. The pen is kept dark 
except when the fowls are eating. A fattening coop 
used for single birds is shown in Figure 94. 



']»^ 




FIG 93 



ORCHARD coop 



When Sitters Are to Be Broken up the coops 
should be cool and airy and supplied with food and 
water. A coop of the kind shown in Figure 95 is all 
that is needed. The slats are of old fence pickets, and 
the structure is stout and durable. 

At the right of Figure 95 is shown a plan for a 
special coop for sitters with eggs. The house has A- 
shaped roof with coating of tar. There are tw^o rows 
of nests inside, wntli a walk between. Feed, water and 



124 



PO U LTRY ARC H ITECT L' RE 



grit should be kept inside. After the first few days 
the hens will find their own nests after coming ofif, but 
the safer plan is to remove them all at a regular time 




FIG 94 : FATTENING BOXES 

daily, and visit the coop awhile later to see that all 
is v\-ell. 

Shipping Gild Shozu Coops — Expressmen have 
found much fault in the wav fowls were occasionallv 




//(J/// 



/^es^j- 



FIG g 



VD 



COOPS FOR SITTING HENS 






prepared for shipment and the result was double first- 
class charges used to be made on poultry. As this 
seemed an injustice poultrymen and expressmen came 
together and decided on what should constitute a 



COOPS. YARDS AND FExXCES 



12^ 



proper coop in consideration of sin^-le nrsc-class mer- 
chandise rates instead of doul^le. This conference 
resulted in the adoption of a "one rate" price instead 
of a "double rate." Also that coops must be strong 
and slatted and not injured by other packages being 




FIG 96: SHIPPING AND EXHIBITION COOPS 

piled on them. . If the coop is sufficiently strong, ex- 
pressmen have no objection to coops being lined inside 
with cloth to protect birds from a draft. The coop 
illustrated in Figure 96 is four feet long, two feet wide 
and twenty inches high, made entirely of laths, except- 



Y^.vd 



/ i 



Yard 




Yi.vd 



ITT 



■—^i 






v.. A \ 



.^-...•.v.J 



FIG 97 : YARDS FOR THREE FLOCKS 

ing the bottom and the boards around the base, which 
are four inches wide, of bottom box stuff. The laths 
on the sides are securely nailed to posts which are of 
inch-square spruce. Such a coop will carry any 
amount of merchandise piled on top of it, as much so 
as though it was a box. 



126 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



Before fowls are sent to the show room they 
should receive a course of training-, to accustom them 
to confinement, handling and a crowd of visitors. 
Unless this is done they will not show at their best and 
fail to make the impression on the judge and visitors 
of more upstanding, bolder birds. Confine them in 
coops, similar to the one shown in Figure 92, for two 
weeks prior to the exhibition and handle each one daily. 

Yard for Three or Four Flocks — Two good plans 
are shown in Figure 97. The first calls for a house 



rA/^D 



YARD 



YARD 



\ HOUSE I 



I //oas£ I 



YARO 



FIG 98 



YARDS FOR TWO OR FOUR FLOCKS 



twenty by thirty feet for one hundred fowls or less. 
The hallway takes but little room out of the interior, 
and yet it communicates with all three pens. The 
inside divisions are of wire netting, allowing the sun- 
shine that enters at one side of the house to fall into 
all the pens ; but the house should be so located that 
three sides may receive morning, noon and afternoon 
sun. The same plan is followed for dividing the yard 
outside as for dividing the space inside the house. 
This gives a large amount of y?rd space, with the 
yards conveniently located. This building is shing)'"^ 



COOrS, YARDS AND FENCES I27 

all over the outside, with the heaviest hnildino: paper 
under the shingles, and may either he sheathed or 
lathed and plastered inside. 

The second plan comprises a three-pen, shed- 
roofed house with three yards of the usual size and a 
large yard that can he used for one pen of fowls on one 
day and for another the next day. This "common" 
yard may be an old pasture or field that need not be 
fenced except near the poultry house. With such a 
run into which to turn the fowls on alternate days, 
almost the same results may be obtained as when free 
range can be liad and at much less expense for fencing 
than when very large yards are provided for each pen. 





FIG 99 : MOVABLE POULTRY YARD 

Figure 98 shows a plan for four flocks with house 
in center, or for two flocks with alternate yards, allow- 
ing one yard to be plowed and sowed to green crops. 
The latter is a good plan for breeding flocks kept on 
limited range. 

Movable Yards — The section abed (Figure 
99). is of light boards, covered with poultrv netting. 
To bottom board, e d, are fastened three heavy planks 
or supports, e f g, meeting the board at right angles. 
These hold the structure upright, and four similar 
pieces hooked together make a convenient poultry yard 
w^hich may be moved without trouble. 

A handv movable panel, shown in second half of 
Figure 99, is of two boards below and netting above= 



128 



POULTRY ARCHITECTURE 



It is neat and will hold fowls of any size. The hooks 
shown at the corners fit into rings in tlie posts. 

Making a Picket Fence Hen-Tight — On many 
farms the hens could be given free range if the garden 
fence were a sufficient barrier to the fowls. The cut 
shows a picket fence with a picket extending upward 
for fifteen inches every twelve feet. To these exlended 
ends of the pickets is stretched a twelve-inch strip of 
wire netting, as shown in the sketch (Figure loo). 
In the prominence of the pickets the fowls do not 
clearly notice the netting until they fiy against it. 
After a few trials they will give up the attempt to fly 




FIG lOO: MAKING A FENCE CHICKEN PROOF 



over. Poultry yard fences can be constructed in this 
way, using ordinary pickets, and above them any 
needed width of netting, according as the fowls are 
Brahmas, Plymouth Rocks or Leghorns. 

The ordinary poultry fencing is all right for 
fowls, but will not turn chickens until they reach the 
age of ten or more weeks. A simple device for making 
poultry netting chicken-tight is shown in Figure lOO. 
Two or three laths are woven into the lower meshes, in 
the manner shown, making a barrier that small 
chickens will not pass. This is both easy of construc- 
tion and effective. 



INDEX 



Additions 

Barrel coops 

Boarding, crosswise 

Box coo))s 

Brooder attachment 

box 

cold 



PAGE 

. 83 
.116 
• 3 



house bank 97 



combined 9~ 

double 91 

Oregon 99 

pipe 94 

single 94 

Matteson's 9" 

Building, low cost 1 1 

Business poultry plant 7° 

Colony house 24 

shelter coop i -^5 

system in Rhode Island 33 

Convenient house 13 

Coop, a light 121 

A-shaped 117 

brood 120 

Coops, box 118 

for fattening 1-23 

for orchard 1-23 

hay sheds 114 

rat proof 112, 114 

ten-cent . . 115 

with glass roof no 

Cornstalk shelter 23 

Drainage 3 

Duckhouses 106 

Early chicks, coop for 1 1 1 

house for 100 

Exhibition coops 124 

Experiments, West Virginia .... 5 

Farmers' poultry house 37 

Feed house 29 

Fence, hen tight 127 

Fattening coops 123 



Floor, a cement 3 

of clay 56 

Foundation, a post 2 

stone 2 

France, G. R., house of n 

Glass in houses 6 

Heating pipes 93 

Hennery, handy 16 

Home, a practical poultry 80 



PAGE 

House, a business 25 

a Kansas 60 

a Maine 58 

a Nebraska 62 

a ten-dollar 19 

cheap and labor-saving 14 

convenient 13 

cost of per fowl 8 

economical, small :i2 

tor cold storage .. .loi 

for ducks 7o6 

for mild climate 10 

for one hundred fowls 49 

for thirty fowls 20 

for turkeys 104 

farmers' poultry 3/ 

good winter 53 

in bank wall 68 

in sand bank 63 

light 56 

L-shaped 5' 

model 78 

movable 45 

octagon 51 

of sods 59 

poultry and pigeon to8 

prize, Grundy's 35 

[ protected for winter 95 

j removable 40 

Rhode Island colony 32 

I satisfactory 54 

situation of 3 

warm 68 

well made 70 

windproof 65 

j with cloth run 5" 

' with scratching shed 21 

Houses, effect of heating 5 

! northern colony 30 

Tee room 102 

Incubator house 90 

I Mrs Fairbanks's 9i 

room banked 9° 

Layers, house for 18 

Lean-to for poultry 84 

Location of poultry i)lant 2 

Log house 66 

Material, preserving 6 

I second hand 6 

Xest boxes 75 

Notes for Iniilders ^ 



i;;o 



ixdp:x 



PAGE 

Octagon house 51 

Pigeon lofts 107 

Pollard's poultry house 76 

Poultry plant, i)lan of 89 

Rhode Island colony house 2>^ 

Roof, l-.ning for 6 

Roosts 7, 75 

movable 55 

warm 5 

Run, cool for chicks 113 

for winter 86 

Runway to second story 82 

Sand house 67 

Sash with double glass 7 

Second story room 82 

Scratching pen 83 

shed 2\ 

sheds protected 87 

Shelter, cornstalk 22, 

summer and fall 121 

sunnv 84 



PAGE 

Shipping coojjs . 124 

Site for poultry buildings 2 

Slope for poultry plant 2 

Sod houses 59 

to lay 62 

Soil for i>oultry jilant i 

Stoddard's poultry house 25 

Tank and incubator house 92 

Troughs and fountains 8 

Turkey houses 104 

Ventilator 56 

Wall, a warm 4 

Water supply 92 

\Mndows, double 

removable 6 

Winter protection 85 

Yard for three flocks 125 

Yards, movable 127 

for two or four flocks 126 



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min, feeding appliances, fountains and water systems, food 
machines, heating apparatus, besides scores of miscellaneous 
labor-saving devices. Over 100 illustrations. Over 125 pages. 
5x7 inches Cloth 50 cents 



STANDARD BOOKS. 

Forest Planting. 

By H. Nicholas Jarchow, LL. D. A treatise on the care 
of woodlands and the restoration of the denuded timberlands 
on plains and mountains. The author has fully described 
those European methods which have proved to be most useful 
in maintaining the superb forests of the old world. This expe- 
rience has been adapted to the different climates and trees of 
America, full instructions being given for forest planting of 
our various kinds of soil and subsoil, whether on mountain 
or valley. Illustrated. 250 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. $1.50 

Soils and Crops of the Farm. 

By George E. Morrow, M. A., and Thomas F. Hunt. The 
methods of making available the plant food in the soil are 
described in popular language. A short history of each of 
the farm crops is accompanied by a discussion of its culture. 
The useful discoveries of science are explained as applied 
in the most approved methods of culture. Illustrated. 310 
pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . . . • $1.00 

Land Draining. 

A handbook for farmers on tlie principles and practice of 
draining, by Manly Miles, giving the results of his extended 
experience in laying tile drains. The directions for the laying 
out and the construction of tile drains will enable the farmer 
to avoid the errors of imperfect construction, and the disap- 
pointment that must necessarily follow. This manual for 
practical farmers will also be found convenient for reference 
in regard to many questions that may arise in crop growing, 
aside from the special subjects of drainage of which it treats. 
Illustrated. 200 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . $1.00 

Barn PlaJis and Ontbuildings. 

Two hundred and fifty-seven illustrations. A most valu- 
able work, full of ideas, hints, suggestions, plans, etc., for the 
construction of barns and outbuildings, by practical writers. 
Chapters are devoted to the economic erection and use of 
barns, grain barns, horse barns, cattle barns, sheep barns, corn- 
houses, smokehouses, icehouses, pig pens, granaries, etc. 
There are likewise chapters on birdhouses, doghouses, tool 
sheds, ventilators, roofs and roofing, doors and fastenings, 
workshops, poultry houses, manure sheds, barnyards, root pits, 
etc. 235 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . • $1.00 



STANDARD BOOKS. 

Herbert's Hints to Horse Keepers. 

By the late Henry William Herbert (Frank Forester). 
This is one of the best and most popular works on the horse 
prepared in this country. A complete manual for horsemen, 
embracing: How to breed a horse; how to buy a horse; hov 
to break a horse ; how to use a horse ; how to feed a horse ; 
how to physic a horse (allopathy or homeopathy) ; how to 
groom a horse ; how to drive a horse ; how to ride a horse, 
etc. Beautifully illustrated. 425 pages. 5x7 inches. 
Cloth $1.50 

Diseases of Horses and Cattle. 

By Dr. D. AIcIntosh, V. S.. professor of veterinary 
science in the university of Illinois. Written expressly for the 
farmer, stockman and veterinary student. A new work on 
the treatment of animal diseases, according to the modern 
status of veterinary science, has become a necessity. Such an 
one is this volume of over 400 pages, written by one of the 
most eminent veterinarians of our country. Illustrated. 426 
pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . . . . $1-75 

TJie lee Crop. 

By Theron L. Hiles. How to harvest, ship and use ice. 
A complete, practical treatise for farmers, dairymen, ice 
dealers, produce shippers, meat packers, cold storers, and all 
interested in icehouses, cold storage, and the handling or use 
of ice in any way. Including many recipes for iced dishes and 
beverages. The book is illustrated by cuts of the tools and 
machinery used in cutting and storing ice, and the different 
forms of icehouses and cold storage buildings. Illustrated. 
122 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . . . $1.00 

TJie Secrets of Health, or How Not to Be Sick, and 
Hozu to Get Well from Sickness. 

By S. H. Platt, A. M., M. D., late member of the Connect- 
icut Eclectic Medical Society, the National Eclectic Medical 
Association, and honorary member of the National Bacterio- 
logical Society of America ; our medical editor and author of 
"Talks With Our Doctor' and "Our Health Adviser." Nearly 
600 pages. An index of 20 pages, so that any topic may be 
instantly consulted. A new departure in medical knowledge 
for the people — the latest progress, secrets and practices of all 
schools of healing made available for the common people — 
health without medicine, nature without humbug, common 
sense without folly, science without fraud. 81 illustrations. 
576 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. .... $1.50 



AUG 1 9 1902 



^ 1902 

t COPY n 

AUG. lO J 902 



